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The Death of Rachel Corrie
Nablus, Palestine
March 16, 2003
Today a young woman was killed in Gaza. Young
women, but more often young men, get killed in
Gaza and the West Bank every day, and the world
pays no attention. What was different today is
that Rachel Corrie was an American, an activist
with the International Solidarity Movement, the
group that I'm here with in occupied Palestine.
And her death is a particularly horrifying example
of the cold-blooded dehumanization that characterizes
this occupation.
Rachel was trying to stop the demolition of a
Palestinian home. According to the other activists
who were with her, she was in dialogue with the
operator of the bulldozer. She was working in
the spirit of nonviolence that is a guiding principle
of the ISM, which provides support for Palestinian
civilians and for nonviolent efforts to bring
about justice for Palestine. Rachel climbed up
on the bulldozer to talk to the soldier in the
cockpit. She climbed down. She sat in front of
the bulldozer. The soldier in control of the huge
machine drove it deliberately over her. He then
backed up, and ran over her again. Rachel was
twenty-three years old.
I am trying to fathom the mind that could pull
the levers and gun the motor to crush the life
out of her young body. That choice, that deliberate
act of murder that ended her sweet life, seems
incomprehensible. But here in occupied Palestine,
that murder is a logical outgrowth of the system
of total dehumanization that controls every aspect
of life, that cannot see the human being in the
Palestinian, that claims to be fighting terror
by institutionalizing it. Please register your
outrage -- at Rachel's murder, at the home demolitions
that she was trying to stop, at the illegal occupation
that can only be defended by brutalizing a whole
people.
Call the Israeli Ministry of Defense 972-3-69-55476
(011-972-3-69-55476 from the US) and 972-3-69-75220
(011-972-3-69-75-220 from the US)
Fax the Israeli Foreign Office 972-2-53-03506
(011-972-2-53-03506 from the US) General Director:
Phone 972-2-530-7704 (011-972-2-530-7704 from
the US)
Call, or demonstrate, or shut down your local
Israeli Embassy or your local Consulate office.
If you are from the US, call or write your Senators
and Congressional Representative.
-- Starhawk
For more information on the International Solidarity
Movement for non-violent peace and justice in Palestine,
visit the website at www.freepalestinecampaign.org
(Note: page will open in a new browser window).
Copyright (c) 2003 by Starhawk.
All rights reserved. This copyright protects Starhawk's right to future publication
of her work. Nonprofit, activist, and educational groups may circulate this
essay (forward it, reprint it, translate it, post it, or reproduce it) for nonprofit
uses. Please do not change any part of it without permission. Readers are invited
to visit the web site: www.starhawk.org.
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