http://www.rachelcorrie.org/march16.htmThank you to all who have paused today to remember our daughter Rachel Corrie and to call for an end to the occupation-an occupation which took her life, as surely as it has taken the lives of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis.
Rachel looked for purpose and found that in Gaza when she went there in January 2003. Brutally killed one year ago today, she was an unarmed, nonviolent, peace activist trying to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian pharmacist, his wife, and three children. She believed that the nonviolent activism that she was doing and supporting would make not only Palestinians but also Israelis and Americans more secure-- by supporting Palestinians who practice nonviolent rather than armed resistance and by speeding an end to this conflict that has so damaged both U.S. and Israeli images in the world. Rachel stood there that day because the United States government and Israel rejected a proposal in the UN to send international human rights monitors to the region. She and other activists went in their place, and they continue to go. Rachel stood there that day protesting illegal home demolitions that the U.S. opposes on the record, yet fails to stop-devastating demolitions that we, in fact, contribute to with billions of U.S. tax dollars annually that fund the Israeli military with its bulldozers, apache helicopters, F-16s, and more. In fact, the U.S. Government, with our tax dollars, surely purchased the Caterpillar D9R bulldozer that killed Rachel.
Rachel's case is closed in Israel and only the "Conclusions" to the military police report have been given to the U.S. We have been able to view the report at the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco. It contains inconsistencies and fails to satisfactorily reconcile the differences between the Israeli soldiers who say they did not see Rachel and the seven international eyewitnesses who say she was clearly visible. We believe that only an independent U.S. investigation can produce a result that we can trust. We continue to call for support and passage of House Concurrent Resolution 111 (HCR111) that calls for such an investigation and now has fifty-six co-sponsors....more...
I hope her soul and her family can find peace...as well as justice.