Mar-12-2010

Amy Goodman Special to Salem-News.com

“(HAIFA, Israel) - Rachel Corrie was a college student from Washington state who tried to slow the destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza. She was run down by an Israeli military bulldozer operator while she communicated with him on a bullhorn.

The Israeli Defense Forces were not held accountable. But, the parents of Rachel Corrie this week, are actually having their day in court. They are currently in Haifa, Israel for the civil case involving the death of their daughter.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, talked to Cindy and Craig Corrie; two courageous parents who are trying to find justice in a nation that routinely destroys the homes of Palestinian people in its ever-broadening claim of the tiny amount of remaining Palestinian land.

AMY GOODMAN:

Amy Goodman

In the midst of Joe Biden’s first visit to Israel as vice president, the Israeli government has embarrassed the Obama administration by announcing plans to add 1,600 more homes to a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. Biden said Israel’s move “undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel.”

His comments were released Tuesday after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, where he reiterated the “unbreakable” ties between Israel and the United States. Biden is scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah today.

This comes as an unusual trial gets underway in Haifa. An American family is suing the state of Israel for the unlawful death of their daughter, Rachel Corrie, a twenty-three-year-old student from Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. She was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza seven years ago. Today, the Haifa District Court in northern Israel will begin hearing evidence from eyewitnesses to Rachel’s death. An earlier internal army investigation exonerated the bulldozer drivers, concluding the soldiers could not see the young American peace activist in front of them. The eyewitness testimony is expected to challenge Israel’s version of events with evidence that she was clearly visible to the soldiers, standing before the bulldozer in her florescent orange jacket.

Well, I interviewed Rachel Corrie’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, and her sister, Sarah Simpson, a few days ago, just before they headed to JFK Airport here in New York to go to Israel. I asked Rachel’s mother, Cindy, to go back to those events of March 16, 2003, and explain why Rachel had gone to Gaza to begin with.”

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Click on link for the rest…the crushing photos of Rachel are horrific ; in the meantime, the Israeli “IDF Murderer/Killer” has NEVER spent one hour in prison. He has walked away…scott free!

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march122010/corrie-goodman.php

Rachel Corrie Family Finally Puts Israel in Dock

Court hears how army bulldozer killed peace activist

By Jonathan Cook in Nazareth

“March 10, 2010 “Information Clearing House”—Seven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today.

A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in the path of the bulldozer, trying to prevent it from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah.

Corrie’s parents, Craig and Cindy, who arrived in Israel on Saturday, said they hoped their civil action would shed new light on their daughter’s killing and finally lead to Israel’s being held responsible for her death. They are also seeking damages that could amount to millions of dollars if the court finds in their favour.

An internal army investigation was closed shortly after Corrie’s death, exonerating both the bulldozer driver and the commanders who oversaw the operation.

Three Britons and one US citizen, who were standing close to Corrie when she was killed, are expected to challenge Israel’s version of events, arguing that the bulldozer driver knew Corrie was there when he ran her over.

The Israeli government had sought to block the activists from entering Israel for the hearing but finally relented three weeks ago, when Britain and the US exerted strong pressure.

The four, like Corrie, belonged to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which brings activists to Israel to resist the occupation non-violently alongside Palestinians.

Cindy Corrie, from Olympia, Washington, said: “My family and I are still searching for justice. The brutal death of my daughter should never have happened. We believe the Israeli army must be held accountable for her unlawful killing.”

For many observers, Rachel Corrie’s death in March 2003 rapidly came to symbolise the injustices of Israel’s occupation. Diary entries, many of them written while she was living with Palestinian families, were adapted into a play that has been performed around the world.

However, as one Israeli commentator noted in the liberal daily newspaper Haaretz on the first anniversary of her death: “In Israel, her name has been all but forgotten.”

Corrie’s family hopes the court case will rectify that.”

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Click on link for the rest:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24958.htm

Unable to post first comment, I’ll rewrite it.
I have been following the story of Rachel Corrie since her murder.  (Coverage primarily on Dem.Now) I made art very quickly, a wearable sign for protest, and wore it out, pinned to my jacket within days of the event.  I made copies of the art on paper and sent it to people, including my member of the House of Reps.  I asked him to support an investigation of the incident.  On some anniversaries of her death, I make copies of the art.  The art hangs on my wall, with other protest signs I’ve made and worn on my infrequent trips out (due to ME/CFS).  The art for Rachel Corrie honors my Bubbie, Ruchel, which translates to Grandmother, Rachel in English (from the Yiddish).

I have followed the story of Rachel Corrie and her murder since her death.  (Coverage on DemocracyNow, primarily)  I wrote to my member of the House of Representatives for an investigation.  I immediately did art and on some anniversaries of her death, have produced more copies of the art.  The art hangs on my wall with other protest art signs I have made. The art for Rachel Corrie is a small wearable sign, which I wore out, pinned to my jacket, shortly after the murder. I had many copies made on paper. The art also honors my Bubbie, Ruchel because Ruchel is Rachel in English. Sanda

I have followed the story of Rachel Corrie since her death.  (Coverage on DemocracyNow, primarily)  I wrote to my member of the House of Representatives for an investigation.  I immediately did art and on some anniversaries of her death, have produced more copies of the art.  The art hangs on my wall with other protest art signs I have made. The art for Rachel Corrie is a small wearable sign, which I wore out, pinned to my jacket, shortly after the murder. I had many copies made on paper. The art also honors my Bubbie, Ruchel because Ruchel is Rachel in English. Sanda

Israeli Attacks on International Peace Workers

“There have been a number of cases where Israeli soldiers and settlers have attacked international peace workers.”

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Click on link to Israel’s IDF killer’s trails:

  http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/corrie-articles.html

Israel, We Won’t Forget Rachel

By Alison Weir

“On March 16th, an Israeli soldier driving a bulldozer two-stories high crushed to death 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, an American nonviolent human rights protestor. According to numerous witnesses and photographic documentation, she was killed intentionally.

Rachel and a handful of others practicing Gandhian nonviolence in the Gaza Strip had been pleading with Israeli soldiers for two hours not to destroy a Palestinian family home. Suddenly, the Israeli bulldozer operator began driving his giant bulldozer toward the home, Rachel sitting in the bulldozer’s path. Witnesses report that she then stood up on the mound of debris and dirt pushed by the bulldozer blade and looked straight at the operator through the window. He continued, and she was pulled underneath the tractor, its blade crushing her. He then backed up, running over her again, burying her deeper into the dirt.”

“Rachel Corrie’s death may prove to be another pivotal point of escalation. If the world — in particular, if Americans — allow this incident to go virtually unnoticed, then our lack of outcry will give a green light to an Israeli regime known for its brutality: If Israel can get away with using an American financed, American-built bulldozer to kill a young American woman, then it will feel it can get away with anything.

It is time for the world to send an unequivocal message: No more. This time we will stop it.

It is time for Americans to turn the light bright red:

Israel, we will not forget Rachel Corrie. No longer will we look the other way. No more may you use American money to kill children, American money to kill Americans, American money to crush young women to death, American money to kill peace.”

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/corrie.html

Gerard, surely you jest….?

That “Israeli bulldozer” is compliments of Caterpillar Corp.. Those really keen
yellow machines that are armored for Israel. Israel grinds out apartheid and
murder the old fashioned way, with heavy machinery.

The Rachel Corrie case against the Government of Israel, recommended as it has been by an official of the U.S.State Department, will give Israel another opportunity to prove its loyalty to democratic values and to justice.