An accident: you are driving along, someone steps off the curb without looking, and you hit the brakes, but the car doesn't stop in time. You hit them.
Not an accident: you are destroying civilian homes in illegally occupied territories; an international civilian stands on a mound of dirt in front of your bulldozer, wearing a bright reflective vest and holding a bullhorn, waving her arms and yelling at you to stop. You keep going. You dump a great big pile of dirt over her. Then, you drive forward, running her over. Then, you drive backwards, running her over again.
An email from Jed to the Israeli Embassy. He puts it better than I can right now, since I am still bubbling over with frustration and anger:
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 09:23:31 -0800
From: Jed
To: ask@israelemb.org
Subject: The Bulldozing Of An American Youth
I am an American born, raised, living and working in Seattle, WA, just north of Olympia, the home of Rachel Corrie, the unfortunate young protester who died in Gaza.
I will say first and foremost that terrorism is despicable and no nation should have to suffer from its threat. I firmly believe that Israel should exist as a secure sovereign nation. However, I also firmly believe that Palestine has an equal right to exist as a secure sovereign nation free from blatantly illegal and indefensible settlement and extremely oppressive never-ending military occupation.
I will forgo a discussion of collective punishment and get to the heart of the matter, that being the fact that a young woman in a brightly colored jacket was standing in front of a bulldozer waving her arms and yelling, yet was knocked over by it, buried by it, run over by it and then run over by it yet again. The Israeli statement declaring this as a "very regrettable incident" isn't merely an understatement, it's a slap in the face. On top of that, trying to lay the blame on the protesters is simply disgusting.
Everytime I hear of IDF forces killing Palestinians, most especially small children, it sickens me to think that those rifles, those missiles, those helicopters, those very weapons are probably supplied by the US. And everytime I hear of the IDF being involved in over-zealous actions, the Israeli military says "There will be an investigation." I would dearly love to hear what the findings of such investigations are, what (if any) punishment is handed out for shooting a small Palestinian child for being on the wrong street at the wrong moment, or burying and crushing a young protester trying to halt the bulldozing of yet another home in the impoverished Palestinian Territories.
I have almost no hope whatsoever that this email will have an effect on your government's actions or policies, but as an American, I must tell you that I consider this just another in an endless series of brutal actions taken by Israel in the name of fighting terrorism and self-defense. America has been a fast friend of Israel for decades, but even our patience has limits. An IDF killing (at the moment, I will refrain from using the word 'murder') of a young American girl will *not* go unnoticed, it will not be glossed over by Israeli or US State Department press releases about an "investigation"; it is another mark in the ever-growing tally of innocent lives lost in the Israeli quest for "security".
I will end this email by saying that I sincerely and desparately hope that Israel finds peace and coexistance with the rest of the world and most especially its neighbors through the most peaceful means possible.
Shalom, pax, salaam,
JM
- See more photos of Rachel Corrie and the action that led to her death
- The International Solidarity Movement
- Email the Israeli Embassy
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