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News & ArtsTuesday, August 28, 2012
International Israeli Court Rules That Rachel Corrie's Death Was an Accident
Posted by Eli Sanders on Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 1:14 PM
- Joel Sanders
- Gaza, 2003
As Megan mentioned in the morning news, an Israeli court has ruled that the 2003 death of Evergreen student Rachel Corrie while she was protesting home demolitions in the Gaza Strip was an accident.
Rachel's mother, Cindy Corrie, has called the ruling unfortunate:
I believe this was a bad day not only for our family, but a bad day for human rights, for humanity, for the rule of law and also for the country of Israel.
Not long after Rachel died, The Stranger sent me to the Gaza Strip to look into what happened, and to talk to protesters in the International Solidarity Movement she'd been working with. Since memories of the incident are being revisited today in light of the ruling, here's what witnesses told me about the events of March 16, 2003:
The bulldozer's advance, according to ISM activists who witnessed it, pushed up a mound of dirt that Rachel came to be standing atop, so that she was looking straight at the bulldozer driver in his high cab. The bulldozer kept advancing.
Here the stories get a bit confused. Some say Rachel kneeled atop the mound of dirt. Others say she tried to run down off the mound, away from the bulldozer, but lost her footing. Either way, all the activists who saw it agree that the bulldozer pushed the mound of dirt over Rachel, burying her alive and dragging the giant blade across her body, first forward as the bulldozer advanced, and then backward as the bulldozer driver backed up.
Much more here.
1
I was just thinking about this the other day. Funny that 9 years later they quietly announce the bullshit little finding that had been prepared since day one.
Israel has become an utterly corrupt, apartheid state, ruled by bigoted zealots that do not even obey the will of their own people anymore. If this is 'democracy' in the Middle East, they can fucking keep it.
Israel has become an utterly corrupt, apartheid state, ruled by bigoted zealots that do not even obey the will of their own people anymore. If this is 'democracy' in the Middle East, they can fucking keep it.
2
If it was an accident, why did he back up? If you think you hit something in error, your reaction would be to run over that thing again?
4
Rachel Corrie was an idealistic and ignorant girl who got caught up in a fringe radical movement and inserted herself into a war zone. WAR ZONE.
5
If by 'accident' you mean that the dumb cunt put herself in harms way and got her dumb ass run over by heavy machinery while it was operating then, yes, it was an accident.
Too bad her parents weren't standing right there with their special little retard.
Too bad her parents weren't standing right there with their special little retard.
6
I sure as hell could figure out how to get out of the way of the 2mph advance of a bulldozer. Rachel the flag-burning America-hater? Not so much.
7
@5 I think it's cute that you call yourself Stranger'sWorstNightmare when your trolling is mediocre, at best.
Can I ask you why you use the word "cunt"? I myself believe she was an idealistic (foolish) person that inserted herself in the middle of a situation that had nothing to do with her (a situation she only understood in simplistic shades of black and white) but what exactly makes her a cunt?
Can I ask you why you use the word "cunt"? I myself believe she was an idealistic (foolish) person that inserted herself in the middle of a situation that had nothing to do with her (a situation she only understood in simplistic shades of black and white) but what exactly makes her a cunt?
8
She was a useful idiot for the Islamic animals trying to destroy Isreal. Very sad and no ones fault but her own. Her parents should have slapped some sense into her but I see they're just like her. They even tried to sue Caterpillar before Isreal. For future reference campus pc activism is not compatible with active war zones.
9
@7 My guess is it's because she's a...a...a woman. Clearly she should've been back in the kitchen, making pot (in the spirit of her alma mater) brownies. Barefoot. Also pregnant, because anti-choice. Right, Stranger'sWorstNightmare?
(I resisted the temptation to make the pregnant part into a misogynistic/anti-semitic joke about her getting plowed by an Israeli because that would be wrong. Also, too soon?)
(I resisted the temptation to make the pregnant part into a misogynistic/anti-semitic joke about her getting plowed by an Israeli because that would be wrong. Also, too soon?)
10
@8: in the future, when cheering for the murder of teenagers and the dispossession of peasants, please at least try to spell "Israel" correctly.
@5: once again, kindly drag your sub-par trolling back to 4chan, where you can assume your rightful destiny as the local punching bag.
@5: once again, kindly drag your sub-par trolling back to 4chan, where you can assume your rightful destiny as the local punching bag.
12
Rachel may have been idealistic and naive but she at least she wasn't a trolling misogynistic piece of shit. She had the courage to stand up to a fucking bulldozer for something she believed in. I don't care whether or not you agree with what she believed, she had courage. Not like you dumbshits that hide behind internet anonymity and call her a cunt. Fuck you. I knew Rachel and she was a sweet, thoughtful person.
13
I figured the dipshit trolls would have something dumb to say. I knew Rachel from school. I was quite sad when her death occurred. She died doing what she believed in. You trolls keep on being pointless. I doubt you'll ever have the courage to anything beyond try to vent your stupidity for the world to see.
14
@12 A person who expressed her sweet thoughtfulness by burning american flags to incite palistinians?
15
@14 we're ultimately judging a dead person. I never knew her in the context of Israel. But at school she was always a nice person. I don't really think there's a lot to added or said this far after the fact. I simply think spitting on the dead is a douchey thing to do. Her family and friends had been dealt a huge loss. I don't you or anyone else posting negative things about her were even affected in any manner.
16
Listen up all you nuts: When you have the guts of a Rachel Corrie, you take your stand in the belief that the authorities, in this case the bulldozer-driver, will NOT drive right on over you. Your aim is to stop them, not get run over by them. You are saying "over my dead body," and you mean it. This is not foolishness, and it is not naivete. Unless, of course, you happen to be standing between an Israeli bulldozer-driver and a Palestinian house.
17
@15 One can only be judged by ones actions. Some will see her as a saint of the anti-Israel movement, others will see her differently.
19
@17 and I see her as a person who was killed. She is gone. She can't defend herself. Move on. It's not that hard.
20
To all of you America and Israel haters I noticed that Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv have large pride parades. There are some Orthodox Jews who frown upon it but it's safe like it is here. Go try it in Gaza or anywhere in the middle east besides Israel and get back to me.
21
I stick with what I said back then: neither "side" is good. The less attention from America, the more likely they are to solve their own problems.
This includes funding.
This includes funding.
22
@20 that's not the point of this post. The better question is if you're alright with a country killing a US citizen and then washing their hands from that tragedy. One would hope you like America, but you probably only like the parts that argue with you. Pretty immature on your part.
23
@5 & 20 Would you be interested in writing a first-person account of what it's like to be sad and weak?
24
I'm not going to get trolled. I'm not going to get trolled...
Ah, hell. Hrmmmm, you dumbass. When it's your house being demolished, your town being bombed and destroyed by a nuclear power, your land and your fields and your livelihood being taken away by a military superpower, we'll see if you wish someone from the outside world would pay attention and maybe even come help you out. Rachel Corrie, was a hero - is a hero - more than the usual people we designate as heroes because she left her place of comfort and put her future, wellbeing, and life on the line to stand for the powerless - against the powerful - and for the displaced. That takes a hell of a lot more courage than all the soldiers, firemen, missionaries, activists, etc. that you will ever meet or hear about. (That includes me.) What she displayed was the ultimate, purest form of love and compassion, of belief in the ability of humanity to better itself. You, and most people, find this threatening, because you'd like to think that cynical and jaded and selfish are the only ways to be. So you call her "naive", and a 'useful idiot', when the fact is that if only half the people were like Rachel Corrie, we wouldn't need tanks and guns.
So say whatever you want. You, in your suburban home, in front of your suburban computer, everything soft and warm,a broken car or occasional illness born of excess the biggest tragedies of your life, will never be thought of as courageous or noble as the Rachel Corries of the world. Nobody will remember you after you're gone, but there will always be people who remember Rachel Corrie's actions and be inspired by them, or hope that they're still possible.
Ah, hell. Hrmmmm, you dumbass. When it's your house being demolished, your town being bombed and destroyed by a nuclear power, your land and your fields and your livelihood being taken away by a military superpower, we'll see if you wish someone from the outside world would pay attention and maybe even come help you out. Rachel Corrie, was a hero - is a hero - more than the usual people we designate as heroes because she left her place of comfort and put her future, wellbeing, and life on the line to stand for the powerless - against the powerful - and for the displaced. That takes a hell of a lot more courage than all the soldiers, firemen, missionaries, activists, etc. that you will ever meet or hear about. (That includes me.) What she displayed was the ultimate, purest form of love and compassion, of belief in the ability of humanity to better itself. You, and most people, find this threatening, because you'd like to think that cynical and jaded and selfish are the only ways to be. So you call her "naive", and a 'useful idiot', when the fact is that if only half the people were like Rachel Corrie, we wouldn't need tanks and guns.
So say whatever you want. You, in your suburban home, in front of your suburban computer, everything soft and warm,a broken car or occasional illness born of excess the biggest tragedies of your life, will never be thought of as courageous or noble as the Rachel Corries of the world. Nobody will remember you after you're gone, but there will always be people who remember Rachel Corrie's actions and be inspired by them, or hope that they're still possible.
25
@20: you're a drooling idiot who has never cracked a single book on the middle east, much less been there. Go walk through Mea Shearim wearing a gay pride t-shirt and waving a rainbow flags. (Or, if you're a female, merely a short-sleeved shirt and pants will do.) Enjoy your hail of rocks and rotten food.
Of course, first you'd have to know where Mea Shaerim is...
Of course, first you'd have to know where Mea Shaerim is...
26
None of you REALLY understand what is being said, let me tell you. Israel is telling the Palestinians, "see what happens to a citizen of the greatest nation on earth and Israel's benefactor? We call it an "accident". So if YOU Arabs think you have a chance in the Israeli legal system, when an American had no chance be fore warned, you don't stand a chance for justice." Israel is becoming one of the ugly nations of the planet, REGARDLESS of how it treats Gay folk or Jews. This is a sad day in Israeli history.
27
@26 I'm kinda surprised the America First people aren't more upset by this. But then again, they're more like "True" America First, Israel Second and Fuck the Rest.
Accidents generally require apologies afterwards.
Accidents generally require apologies afterwards.
29
At Evergreen, if you squat and take a shit you get 5 credits; to Stranger readers, that makes you a "hero".
31
@24 "the ultimate, purest form of love and compassion, of belief in the ability of humanity to better itself"
Yes.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GowSikBS-vo/TZ…
Yes.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GowSikBS-vo/TZ…
33
I think she was in the wrong place in the wrong time. Loggers don't plow the protestors chained to the trees down in PacNW, which probably led this poor dumb kid to think that at the last moment the bulldozer driver would surely turn away. This was a dangerous game of chicken and she lost.
34
@31 Exactly. She had no problem with violence as long as it was directed at Americans and Jews. She crosses the line to full traitor. Thanks to the IDF for clearing our trash. We apologize. can u come bulldoze Evergreen State College too?
35
One persons naive idealism can not fight and overcome anothers' equally narrow and naive system of values. The loss of human life is always a tragedy but becoming a martyr for a fight you have nothing at stake in is just plain ridiculous. We are privileged enough to complain about the injustices seen around the world but in reality rarely suffer the day to day persecution that we so readily use as our rallying cry. There are plenty of unsung unspoken heroes around the world that go unrecognized because we choose to put the more visible and louder idealists on a pedestal.
Israel was not right in any way shape or form but neither was she. #33 nailed it - played a dangerous game and lost
(The school Rachel went to later tried to ban the use of caterpillar equipment in its building contracts but it was ruled illegal due to being discriminatory against potential bidders. Irony at its finest)
Israel was not right in any way shape or form but neither was she. #33 nailed it - played a dangerous game and lost
(The school Rachel went to later tried to ban the use of caterpillar equipment in its building contracts but it was ruled illegal due to being discriminatory against potential bidders. Irony at its finest)
38
I'm surprised Andrew S. didnt join this thread to tell us how the blacks kill when they bulldoze white peoples houses.
39
@38 No, blacks kill when they stomp people to death- tuba man, Eric Townes, Kris Kimes, Danny Vega. But of course unlike those who killed Rachel these killers all got the book thrown at them. The mob who killed the tuba man got between 3-36 weeks "detention", those who killed Eric were out in 2 years, ditto for those who killed Kris. And Danny's killers were never caught. Too bad these events didn't occur in Isreal and the perps were Jewish then Seattlittes would have been outraged.
40
> Rachel Corrie is a hero.
> The operator of the bulldozer is a murderer.
> The Israeli justice system is corrupt.
> @5, @6, @8 are scum-of-the-earth cowards.
> @24 said it wonderfully.
> The operator of the bulldozer is a murderer.
> The Israeli justice system is corrupt.
> @5, @6, @8 are scum-of-the-earth cowards.
> @24 said it wonderfully.
41
Corrie aligned herself sentimentally and seamlessly with suffering Palestinians, reserving for them her absolute anger and attendant pity to the extent that suffering Israelis merited nothing but a sneering hatred from her. Corrie’s idealism did not proceed from love but from ideologically induced hatred. She was a de-facto apologist for Palestinian terrorism, and she died trying to prevent the work of an Israeli bulldozer, which was searching for munitions buried in the ground . Contrary to Palestinian reports and what is generally claimed, the bulldozer was not there to demolish a house, (though houses used as cover for weapon-smuggling tunnels were demolished by the IDF, but not on that particular day). Any which way you slice it, those munitions were there to be utilized in attacks against innocent civilians. Corrie died protecting terrorist weapons. She was completely indifferent to the deaths these weapons spelled at a time when suicide bombings were a matter of daily, sometimes hourly, occurrence in Israel.
She was seduced into abandoning her humanitarian better self by the cynical, quasi-demonic, calculated, cognitively-dissonant, stratagems of ISM. Here is how they define their mission:
" As enshrined in international law and UN resolutions , we recognize the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle. However, we believe that nonviolence can be a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and we are committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance. [-]
The ISM does not support or condone any acts of terrorism – which is not legitimate armed struggle. The ISM does not associate, support, or have anything to do with armed or violent resistance to the occupation. The ISM does not assist or engage in any kind of armed resistance, no matter what form it may take.
This right to resist occupation applies not only to the Palestinian people, but to all peoples who are faced with a military occupation. The ISM regards all people as equals with equal rights under international law. We believe that nonviolent action is a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and are committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance.[4]
During a CNN interview, Paula Zahn with Adam Shapiro and Huwaida Arraf asked about an article they had co-authored which stated: "Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics, both violent and nonviolent. But most importantly, it must develop a strategy involving both aspects. Nonviolent resistance is no less noble than carrying out a suicide operation."
Mr. and Mrs. Corrie need to demand justice for their daughter's death and explanations from the organization/cult that hijacked their giddy and suggestible daughter's being, brainwashed her, and then sent her to face a giant Israeli bulldozer, operated by an Israeli driver who could not see or hear her, playing into her fantasy that what she was doing amounted to caring about human rights and resisting non-violently the forces of occupation.
I will repeat this: She died in her "non-violent" attempt to prevent Israel from unearthing munitions that were meant for shredding Israeli kids. She fulfilled in her body and destiny ISM's mission statement to the letter.
More...
Corrie aligned herself sentimentally and seamlessly with suffering Palestinians, reserving for them her absolute anger and attendant pity to the extent that suffering Israelis merited nothing but a sneering hatred from her. Corrie’s idealism did not proceed from love but from ideologically induced hatred. She was a de-facto apologist for Palestinian terrorism, and she died trying to prevent the work of an Israeli bulldozer, which was searching for munitions buried in the ground . Contrary to Palestinian reports and what is generally claimed, the bulldozer was not there to demolish a house, (though houses used as cover for weapon-smuggling tunnels were demolished by the IDF, but not on that particular day). Any which way you slice it, those munitions were there to be utilized in attacks against innocent civilians. Corrie died protecting terrorist weapons. She was completely indifferent to the deaths these weapons spelled at a time when suicide bombings were a matter of daily, sometimes hourly, occurrence in Israel.
She was seduced into abandoning her humanitarian better self by the cynical, quasi-demonic, calculated, cognitively-dissonant, stratagems of ISM. Here is how they define their mission:
" As enshrined in international law and UN resolutions , we recognize the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle. However, we believe that nonviolence can be a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and we are committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance. [-]
The ISM does not support or condone any acts of terrorism – which is not legitimate armed struggle. The ISM does not associate, support, or have anything to do with armed or violent resistance to the occupation. The ISM does not assist or engage in any kind of armed resistance, no matter what form it may take.
This right to resist occupation applies not only to the Palestinian people, but to all peoples who are faced with a military occupation. The ISM regards all people as equals with equal rights under international law. We believe that nonviolent action is a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and are committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance.[4]
During a CNN interview, Paula Zahn with Adam Shapiro and Huwaida Arraf asked about an article they had co-authored which stated: "Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics, both violent and nonviolent. But most importantly, it must develop a strategy involving both aspects. Nonviolent resistance is no less noble than carrying out a suicide operation."
Mr. and Mrs. Corrie need to demand justice for their daughter's death and explanations from the organization/cult that hijacked their giddy and suggestible daughter's being, brainwashed her, and then sent her to face a giant Israeli bulldozer, operated by an Israeli driver who could not see or hear her, playing into her fantasy that what she was doing amounted to caring about human rights and resisting non-violently the forces of occupation.
I will repeat this: She died in her "non-violent" attempt to prevent Israel from unearthing munitions that were meant for shredding Israeli kids. She fulfilled in her body and destiny ISM's mission statement to the letter.
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