Rachel Corrie: Difference between revisions
m delete _ |
blame and investigation |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
'''Rachel Corrie''' ([[April 10]], [[1979]] - [[March 16]], [[2003]]) was a peace activist who was run over and killed by an [[Israel]]i soldier operating an armored [[Caterpillar_D9#Israel|Caterpillar D9]] [[bulldozer]] while protesting Israeli demolitions of [[Palestinian]] homes in the [[Gaza Strip]]. |
'''Rachel Corrie''' ([[April 10]], [[1979]] - [[March 16]], [[2003]]) was a peace activist who was run over and killed by an [[Israel]]i soldier operating an armored [[Caterpillar_D9#Israel|Caterpillar D9]] [[bulldozer]] while protesting Israeli demolitions of [[Palestinian]] homes in the [[Gaza Strip]]. |
||
Corrie's death sparked controversy because she was a [[U.S.]] citizen and peace activist killed during a non-violent protest. Advocates on both sides scrambled to blame her death on the [[Israel Defense Force]] (IDF), the ISM, the Palestinians, and on Corrie herself. The U.S. government did not conduct or request an independent investigation, and Israel has cleared its soldiers of responsibility while refusing to release documents from the investigation. |
|||
==Background== |
==Background== |
||
Revision as of 19:11, 25 December 2004
Rachel Corrie (April 10, 1979 - March 16, 2003) was a peace activist who was run over and killed by an Israeli soldier operating an armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozer while protesting Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.
Corrie's death sparked controversy because she was a U.S. citizen and peace activist killed during a non-violent protest. Advocates on both sides scrambled to blame her death on the Israel Defense Force (IDF), the ISM, the Palestinians, and on Corrie herself. The U.S. government did not conduct or request an independent investigation, and Israel has cleared its soldiers of responsibility while refusing to release documents from the investigation.
Background
Raised in Olympia, Washington, Rachel was the daughter of Craig Corrie, an insurance executive, and Cindy Corrie, a school volunteer and flutist. After graduating from Capitol High School, she went on to The Evergreen State College, where she studied the arts and international relations. During college years, Corrie joined the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace and participated in various peace and environmental activities. In her senior year, she took a leave of absence to participate in ISM-organized nonviolent demonstrations against the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to initiate a sister city project between her hometown Olympia and the Palestinian city of Rafah.
Activities in Gaza
On January 18, 2003, Corrie travelled to the Gaza Strip, where she attended two days of training in non-violent resistance techniques and philosophy before joining other ISM activists in direct action against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Through February and March, she participated in a variety of actions, including protesting and disrupting Israeli army demolitions of Palestinian homes by acting as a human shield; protecting Palestinian civilians by placing herself between the Palestinians and the Israeli troops; protecting Palestinian wells from destruction by the Israeli army, by surrounding the wells as human shields; criticizing the Bush administration for alleged complicity in crimes against Palestinians; demonstrating against the 2003 invasion of Iraq (as part of the global pre-war protests), where she burned a paper-drawn U.S. flag (but refused to burn an Israeli flag, stating that as a U.S. citizen she could only bear responsibility for opposing U.S. actions.
Corrie stated that she also served as a "human rights observer" of the actions of Israeli troops in the area. She documented the destruction of 25 [[greenhouses and the digging up of the road to Gaza City by the Israeli army. She also documented that Israeli soldiers fired shots at Rafah Municipal Water Authority]] workers attempting to rebuild the Canada well and El Iskan well, which were bulldozed by the Israeli military on January 30.
During her stay, she communicated by e-mail with "Danny," a reserve first sergeant in the Israeli army, who asked her to "document as much as you can and do not embellish anything with creative writing." She also wrote about the smuggling tunnels in Gaza in her report: "Events Surrounding the Deaths of 2 Men in Tunnels beneath the Block O area" (see item 4.)
Corrie met and spoke with local Palestinians and spent several days and nights with Palestinian families in Rafah. In e-mails to her mother, she mentioned watching the cartoon Gummi Bears dubbed in Arabic and helping a Palestinian boy with his English homework. She was also involved in a children's pen pal program between the Gaza Strip and the U.S.
Corrie's death
The Israeli military frequently used armored bulldozers to destroy buildings and farmland in Rafah, along the road near the border with Egypt, claiming that the demolitions were intended to uncover explosive devices and destroy smuggling tunnels. These demolitions were usually carried out under heavy fire from Palestinian militants, and the firefights sometimes resulted in Palestinian civilians being killed. Many consider these Israeli actions to be a form of collective punishment in violation of international law, while many others see them as a legitimate measure of self-defense.
On March 16, 2003, Corrie was in a group of seven ISM activists (three British and four Americans) attempting to disrupt what they thought were house demolitions in Rafah. The IDF later said it was not intending to demolish houses, but was clearing debris and shrubbery to expose explosive devices.
The following is a description according to Joseph Smith, an ISM activist from Kansas City, Missouri. [1] The neutrality and reliability of his account are disputed.
- Two armored bulldozers, supported by an armored combat engineering vehicle (CEV) and Israeli troops, were operating in the area that day.
From 1:30pm, the peace activists began disrupting the demolitions by standing in front of bulldozers and shouting at the operators through a megaphone to stop the demolitions. Israeli soldiers used tear gas and fired warning shots to disperse the protesters, who later regrouped.
- The ISM claims that its office informed the British and American embassies between 2:00pm and 3:00pm that Israeli army bulldozers were behaving aggressively and endangering the lives of protesters, but the embassies took no action. [2] According to eyewitness acounts, Corrie followed the standard technique of sitting, kneeling or standing on top of the pile of debris in front of the bulldozer. Several times that day, the bulldozers stopped directly at her feet.
- Corrie was wearing a high-visibility orange fluorescent jacket with reflective strips. She had been using a megaphone earlier in the day, but not at the time she was killed. Around 4:45pm, Corrie was in front of a house where activists had stayed previously, owned by Dr. Samir Nasrallah, a Palestinian pharmacist, to prevent its expected demolition. Most other structures in the area had already been demolished by the Israeli army; Nasrallah's family home now stood alone in a sea of sand and debris [3].
- Just before being killed, Corrie was on top of a pile of debris, about 15 meters from the bulldozer, looking at the driver's cabin (with two drivers inside). According to a photographer, she was sitting and waving her arms. The driver moved towards her, and at some point, Corrie stood up, then jumped or off the pile of rubble, possibly losing her footing or tripping at the bottom, possibly being knocked off balance by the moving earth. This may have obscured her from sight of the driver. Other ISM activists started shouting at the bulldozer drivers to stop, pointing towards Corrie. But the bulldozer continued and the plow blade pushed her deep into the debris; the bulldozer continued moving forward until Corrie's body was beneath the driver cabin. The bulldozer then stopped, waited a few seconds, and then reversed direction. As the plow blade was still pressed down, it scraped over Corrie's body a second time. Corrie suffered massive injuries from the bulldozer blade. According to the autopsy report, her skull was fractured, ribs shattered and lungs punctured.
- The bulldozers then withdrew and stopped far away. The tank with soldiers guarding the bulldozers approached the scene and activists shouted that Corrie had been run over and might die. The soldiers did not get out, ask any questions or offer any help; they talked on their radios, then withdrew and parked the tank between the bulldozers. One activist ran to the Nasrallah's house to ask for his help and to call an ambulance. A Red Crescent ambulance arrived between 5:00pm and 5:15pm and the activists formed a shield around Palestinian ambulance workers (Palestinians claim that Israeli tanks had often fired at ambulance workers in the past [4].) Corrie was taken to the local Al-Najar hospital where she was pronounced dead at 5:20pm (one witness said that she died while in the ambulance).
Others dispute this account and claim ISM's version is full of contradictions and misinformation. A major point of dispute is Rachel's interaction with the bulldozer and what really caused her death — a stroke from the blade or falling debris, or whether she was crushed under the bulldozer tracks and blade. Other points, such as Smith's claim that they heard the bulldozer driver shouting at them (Smith, section 16:00-16:45), are said to indicate lack of credibility, since heavy bulldozers are very noisy equipment and operators are protected by thick glass and armor.
Responsibility for Corrie's death
Several eyewitnesses charged that the bulldozer operator crushed Corrie deliberately and called her death "a war crime." The Israeli military states that the killing was an accident. The bulldozers had been in the area for two hours and were aware of the protesters and their activities, according to fellow ISM activists. The bulldozer drivers had seen Corrie, say the activists, and had stopped in front of her several times that day. Witness statements indicate that Corrie should have been visible to the drivers while she was standing on top of the pile of rubble, as she was wearing a bright red reflective jacket. However, it is known that Caterpillar D9 bulldozers have a restricted field of vision with several blind spots, and Israeli army regulations normally require that other soldiers assist in directing bulldozer drivers.
The Israeli army commander of the Gaza Strip said in an interview broadcast on Israeli television that, on the day of Corrie's death, soldiers had to stay in their armored vehicles and were not able to direct the bulldozer, or arrest the protesters, because of a potential threat from Palestinian snipers. He also said that Israeli soldiers may have been handling other ISM activists instead of watching over the bulldozer. Critics point out that soldiers had intervened that day to disperse the activists and that the four ISM activists in the vicinity were not being "handled" by soldiers at the time of the incident.
The Israeli government promised a "thorough, credible, and transparent investigation." An initial autopsy was performed at the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv. The Olympian reported that the autopsy report of March 20 concluded that Corrie's death was "caused by pressure on the chest from a mechanical apparatus."
The Jerusalem Post, quoting an Israeli military spokesman, reported that Corrie had not been run over. "An autopsy found that the cause of Corrie's death was falling debris," the Post reported. The miltiary spokesman said: "The driver at no point saw or heard Corrie. She was standing behind debris which obstructed the view of the driver and the driver had a very limited field of vision due to the protective cage he was working in," (June 26, 2003).
The Israeli army's investigation, led by the chief of the general staff of the IDF found that Israeli forces were not guilty of any misconduct, (Guardian, April 14, 2003). [5] The army's report, which was seen by the Guardian, says that Corrie was: "struck as she stood behind a mound of earth that was created by an engineering vehicle operating in the area and she was hidden from the view of the vehicle's operator who continued with his work. Corrie was struck by dirt and a slab of concrete resulting in her death." The report continues: "The finding of the operational investigations shows that Rachel Corrie was not run over by an engineering vehicle but rather was struck by a hard object, most probably a slab of concrete which was moved or slid down while the mound of earth which she was standing behind was moved."
The report also states that the army had not, in fact, intended to demolish the house Corrie had been staying in, but was patrolling what the report calls "no man's land" near the border zone, searching for explosives.
A spokesman for the IDF told the Guardian that, while it did not accept responsibility for Corrie's death, it intended to change its operational procedures to avoid similar incidents in the future. The level of command of similar operations would be raised, said the spokesman, and civilians in the area would be dispersed or arrested before operations began. Observers will be deployed and CCTV cameras will be installed on the bulldozers to compensate for blindspots, which may have contributed to Corrie's death.
The Israeli military called the killing a "regrettable accident" and blamed it on Corrie and ISM activists, but refused to release copies of their investigation. Only two American embassy staffers were allowed to read selected parts. [6] Commenting on the report, Richard LeBaron, the U.S. deputy chief of mission in Tel Aviv, said that "there are several inconsistencies worthy of note." [7]
The ISM rejected the Israeli report stating it was contrary to eyewitness reports. Tom Wallace, an ISM spokesman, said that the Israel's investigation had been far from credible and transparent. [8]
On March 25, 2003, U.S. Representative Brian Baird introduced bill "H.R. 111" in the U.S. Congress calling on the U.S. government to "undertake a full, fair, and expeditious investigation into the death of Rachel Corrie." [9] The bill, however, has languished there and has little chance of being passed. [10] The Corrie family continues to call for a U.S. investigation. [11]
Reactions to Corrie's death
Capt. Jacob Dallal, a spokesman for the Israeli army, called the incident a "regrettable accident," but said Corrie and the other ISM activists were "a group of protesters who were acting very irresponsibly, putting everyone in danger — the Palestinians, themselves and our forces — by intentionally placing themselves in a combat zone."
On March 17, Amnesty International USA condemned the death and called for an independent inquiry. Christine Bustany, their Advocacy Director for the Middle East, said that "U.S.-made bulldozers have been "weaponized" and their transfer to Israel must be suspended".
Corrie's death has been condemned as the murder of a U.S. civilian by many of Corrie's supporters who have contrasted U.S. government silence over the death to condemnation of the killing of three U.S. diplomats, allegedly by The Popular Resistance Committees, a Palestinian militant faction, in 2003. Her photograph continues to be used in protests against Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank. On March 18, there was a memorial service at the place where Corrie died, attended by between 40 and 100 people, including Samir Masri. The service was interrupted by an Israeli APC which fired tear gas and concussion grenades. A Palestinian couple, Salah and Rania Noureddine, named their newborn child Rachel Corrie saying that their daughter would be "a symbol for them and all honest people in the Arab world."
On April 25, 15 people, including British citizens Asif Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif, met at an ISM apartment in Rafah, Gaza before proceeding to the site of Corrie's death, where they placed a flower. Five days later, Hanif and Sharif carried out a suicide bombing of Mike's Place, a restaurant in Tel Aviv, killing three civilians. The Israeli government then imposed new restrictions on ISM activities based upon the presence of the two bombers at the Corrie memorial. In Rafah and elsewhere in the Palestinian territories, portrait posters of Corrie were plastered to walls, with accompanying slogans such as "Rachel did not die. She lives in our hearts." She is one of the few non-Arabs to be treated in this way. On 15 July 2003, the Chicago Tribune reported that "to the people of Rafah, Rachel Corrie will always remain a very special martyr, their American martyr".
External links and references
Israeli reports
- Israeli report clears troops over US death - from UK's The Guardian
- Accounts of Corrie's death still conflict - from The Olympian, June 14, 2003
Commentary and link lists
- Rachel Corrie Memorial Website - list of links to opinions, articles, etc - one of a few such sites.
- Rachel Corrie and ISM Links - from landofisrael.info
- Statements and Eyewitness Reports - list of links from an "In memoriam" site.
- No Cameras weblog - An Olympia resident writes about Corrie's death: [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]
- "The death of Rachel Corrie: martyr, idiot, dedicated, deluded. Why did this American college student crushed by an Israeli bulldozer put her life on the line? And did it matter?" (in-depth commentary by Joshua Hammer)
- Statement from eyewitness, Joseph Smith