[Marxism] A year of silence since Rachel Corrie died

[Macdonald Stainsby <mstainsby@xxxxxxxxx>]

A year of silence since Rachel Corrie died
Elizabeth Corrie
International Herald Tribune
Thursday, March 4, 2004

http://www.iht.com/articles/508588.html

ATLANTA, Georgia Only a year ago, the month of March would have held the
same positive associations for me as it has for many - the beginning of
the end of winter, the promise of springtime and even summer. This year,
and for every year for the rest of my life, the approach of March will
mean something else entirely - the anniversary of the brutal death of my
cousin, Rachel Corrie.

On March 16, 2003, an Israeli soldier and his commander ran over Rachel
with a nine-ton Caterpillar bulldozer while she stood - unarmed, clearly
visible in her orange fluorescent jacket - protecting a Palestinian home
slated for demolition by the Israeli army. The death of Rachel Corrie,
and the response that her case has - and has not - received, reveal
several disturbing, indeed immoral and criminal, truths.

First, Rachel died while attempting to prevent the demolition of a home,
a common practice of the Israeli Army's collective punishment that has
left more than 12,000 Palestinians homeless since the beginning of the
second uprising in September 2000. This practice violates international
law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Second, Rachel was run over by a Caterpillar bulldozer, manufactured in
the United States and sent to Israel as part of the regular U.S. aid
package to Israel, which amounts to $3 billion to $4 billion annually,
all of it from U.S. taxpayers. The use of Caterpillar bulldozers to
destroy civilian homes, not to mention to run over unarmed human rights
activists, violates U.S. law, including the U.S. Arms Export Control
Act, which prohibits the use of military aid against civilians.

Third, the self-acquittal of the Israeli army for Rachel's death and the
resistance of the state of Israel to an independent investigation into
this case reveals both the Sharon administration's unwillingness to take
responsibility for the death of a U.S. citizen and the Bush
administration's cowardice in allowing another nation to attack U.S.
citizens with impunity.

Fourth, Rachel's death was in fact only the first of several Israeli
attacks on foreign citizens in the West Bank and Gaza. Brian Avery, from
New Mexico, was shot in the face on April 5; Tom Hurndall, a British
citizen, was shot in the head on April 11 and died Jan. 13, and James
Miller, another British citizen, was also shot and killed in April. To
date, only in Hurndall's case will the Israeli soldier responsible for
the attack face trial, and this is because the British government, after
several months, finally responded to the overwhelming evidence presented
by the Hurndall family.

As we approach March 16, residents and citizens of the United States
should ask themselves how it is that an unarmed U.S. citizen can be
killed with impunity by a soldier from an allied nation receiving
massive U.S. aid, using a product manufactured in the United States by a
U.S. corporation and paid for with U.S. tax dollars. When three
Americans were killed, presumably by Palestinians, in an explosion on
Oct. 15, 2003, as they traveled through Gaza, the FBI came within 24
hours to investigate the deaths. After one year, neither the FBI nor any
other U.S.-led team has done anything to investigate the death of an
American killed by an Israeli.

Why the double standard? Perhaps this reveals the most disturbing truth
of all.

Elizabeth Corrie is an administrator and teacher in a school in Atlanta.

--
Macdonald Stainsby
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
                --Brecht.



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