Why US Ambassador Condemned IDF Probe, Boosting ISM’s Rachel Corrie Myth
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U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro added his support to the ISM effort to create martyrs in their fight against Israel.
Photo Credit: Uri Lenz/FLASH90
Indeed, according to Rachel Corrie’s father, it was Wilkerson himself who told the family they should sue the government of Israel.
But in all subsequent references to the alleged shortcomings of Israel’s investigations, the specifics are always referred to as “charges” or “complaints” made either by the Corries or by the International Solidarity Movement, the outfit which sent Rachel Corrie into harm’s way.
So how is it possible to determine conclusively whether the US believes Israel’s investigation was flawed? The best evidence, startling enough, comes from the Corries themselves.
Because, at the same time that their supporters have been touting the view that the US has condemned Israel for a shoddy investigation, the Corrie family has consistently complained about the State Department’s refusal to act in a manner consistent with such a position. In other words, the Corries apparently know the US does not believe that the Israeli investigation was inadequate.
The Rachel Corrie Foundation in 2010 charged, in a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council, that
the State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Israel in 2003, 2004 and 2005 (released in 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively) address Rachel’s killing without mentioning the lack of a credible investigation into her death. The 2004 report suggested that “the Corrie family” believed the Israeli investigations to be inadequate, while the 2005 report noted “inconsistencies” between Israeli investigations and “statements among those observing the incident.” Exclusion of U.S. government opinions in the reports creates a misleading sense that the U.S. was ignorant of the inadequacy of Israeli investigations.
The answer seems to be that it was Rachel Corrie’s parents who believe that Israel’s investigation of their daughter’s death was flawed. And it was the alleged response of one State Department employee to the Corries, in a private letter, that led to a the myth of the “official US government position” in the form of a mantra that took on a life of it’s own.
It is not surprising that Ambassador Shapiro gave comfort to the Corries on the eve of their trial’s verdict, in language which has been bandied about in the State Department for years. Nonetheless, a full understanding of how that mythic position arose should salve the sting of criticism against the Israeli government by its closest ally.
The Corrie family took Wilkerson’s advice and sued the government of Israel in a wrongful death suit in an Israeli district court in Haifa, Israel. That case went to trial in March, 2010. Since that time there have been 15 court hearings at which 23 witnesses testified, producing more than 2,000 pages of court transcripts. Judge Oded Gershon is expected to issue the verdict tomorrow, August 28.
What Actually Happened To Rachel Corrie,
the Most Famous Martyr of the Palestinian Cause
By Jewish Press Staff
Rachel Corrie
“Couldn’t the bulldozer driver see or hear Corrie?” asks blogger Lenny Ben-David in I*Consult. He points out that the noise generated by the bulldozer is deafening, and Corrie, who had used a megaphone before, did not have it on the afternoon in question.
“The field of vision on the armored bulldozer is exceptionally limited, and the driver could not see her,” argues Ben-David.
And while Corrie’s associates testified that she was standing in front of the bulldozer, which would still place her below the driver’s line of sight, their own witnesses at the time of the incident reported, and the NY Times dutifully cited that “when the bulldozer approached a house today, Ms. Corrie, who was wearing a bright orange jacket, dropped to her knees.”
“The bulldozer drove toward Rachel slowly, gathering earth in its scoop as it went,” an International Solidarity Movement (ISM) associate said in 2003. “She knelt there, she did not move.”
Another ISM witness said: “She did not ‘trip and fall’ in front of the bulldozer. She sat down in front of it, well in advance.“
They were trying to make her appear very martyr-like, hence the silent, meditative figure sitting motionless before the Zionist bulldozer. But as soon as it turned out the driver couldn’t spot her sitting down – the ISM pulled her up to a standing position.
Dead martyrs are very handy that way.
tell a friendAbout the Author: Lori Lowenthal Marcus is the US correspondent for The Jewish Press. She is a recovered lawyer who previously practiced First Amendment law and taught in Philadelphia-area graduate and law schools.
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An American girl with no personal ties to the region decides that she is going to change an old and complicated conflict by interfering with the IDF, a powerful military force which has developed over many years to defend Israeli citizens from violent attacks by 21 Muslim countries which want to destroy it. With an obvious sense of great righteousness she sits down in front of a huge bulldozer.
She is killed. Her cohorts then contend that she was killed on purpose. The righteous white, Western, Christian damsel becomes their martyr. Ms. Corrie put herself in danger. In a combat zone, unarmed journalists and photographers, and combatants get killed, sometimes by friendly fire. The hubris of this girl and her family and the rest of the ISM gang makes me sick. For two thousand years Christianity has blamed the Jews for murdering Jesus, a death which they exalt theologically as their salvation. What's the difference?
I know plenty of Christians who are supportive of Israel and those who think that they can make a statement and change the world by stopping a bulldozer are truly naive! I blame that Anti-Israel brain manipulation movement that contributed to placing her in a definite life/death situation. She chose to be there and the organization allowed her to be in danger- perhaps Israel should pass a law that foreigners are not allowed to live there and join these lethal organizations! I pray for the Peace of Jerusalem! Shalom
As i understand it, most US Christians side with Israel. No all of course but some. Real Christians know that the death of Christ was not because of Jews.
What happened to Charity begins at Home USA veterans suicide 14 a month Go Help your own, FIRST. USA Homeless needs help, Why they need to go around the world stick their nose anywhere like a Drone strike or suicide bomber. Americans go home clean house,"When your living in a Glass House, throw no stones".
You are right- we have enough to clean up in our own back yard!
Ambassador Shapiro's statement is not credible. It seems the Obama administration is not yet finished with slapping the faces of the righteous people of Israel. What's next? Sending Rabbi Lynne Gottlieb as the next ambassador?
Remember that it was the Bush administration that first stated that the IDF investigation was not as thorough, credible or transparent as desired which President Bush was assured by Sharon would occur.
According to Oslo, the IDF had no right to be in the area they were working as they were over 150 meters off of the Philadelphi Corridor. Per Oslo it was the the IDF that was in the wrong place. And, the Israeli military command knew that this Oslo stipulation was problematic for them….so they took the matter into their own hands and violated Oslo and were creating the buffer zone. The last thing the IDF needed was a video like showed up two days before Rachel's death showing the bulldozers working well into Palestinian territory and inside the wall….Oslo Oslo Oslo. That is what this is about and photographs and videos surfacing proving the IDF in huge violation.
Cheryl Brodersen wow you wind biggest lying bigot award for tody? Related to the Corries then?
Cheryl Brodersen Thank you for pointing out the Oslo connection. I hadn't read that anywhere. Do you think there will be repercussions?
What I did read is that now people are calling for Nato/UN to invade Israel, secure its nuclear weapons, and set up an international government. Do you think there's any possibility that this would be attempted?
There was a report that Corrie was taken to a Palestinian hospital, alive. Either her injuries were beyond the capabilities of the hospital – or she was "sacrificed" for their propaganda cause.
Where did you see that? This is the first time I heard it, but it does seem plasuible.
the corries are racist jew haters, and rachel is the worst.
they lost the court case in Haifa's eastern district.
The article highlights how even Palestinians distrusted women like Rachel Corrie.
And how they don't hesitate to put them in harms way
Well, it's over, I believe. The Haifa court just ruled for the IDF. ISM needs fresh, new martyr recruits.
Yes, you're right Yori. They have to keep the new martyr recruits coming. Maybe more girls would come if they knew that they were going to be part of Arafat's 72 women.
All fingers of accusation point to Israel. The French courts are currently investigating the death of Arafat and, I expect, will conclude that his death was a homicide. The usual suspects will be "rounded-up" and yes, you guessed it…they will accuse Israel and the Mossad. Interestingly enough, the Polonium-210 found on the remains of Arafat has a half-life of only 138 days…so…do the math..someone at the autopsy "tampered"
with the evidence since Arafat died in 2004.
Also, they found the polonium in his clothes but not in his hair. Explain that miracle of modern science.
The Corries must share part of the blame. When you raise a bigot to support terrosim you shoud be ashamed. My prays for their grief, but hopefully they will change their lives and renounce the anti-semitic livestyle.
She was just plain stupid to sit behind a D9 Bulldozer. Once in the military the same thing almost happen to me and I was at fault. I was not being careful.
It is hard to think of a better instance of natural selection than Rachel Corrie (Vittorio Arrigoni, the anti-Israel Italian pacifist who was strangled by his Gazan terrorist hosts certainly comes to mind) who grew up in a privileged setting in the States and ended up joining the ISM, a virulently anti-Israel organization which has consistently aided terrorist groups such as Islamic Jihad in deadly attacks on Israeli commercial establishments. And now the people from whom she inherited her defunct "useful" idiot DNA are doing everything in their power to perpetuate the same vapid lie of Israeli injustice that surely was responsible for misleading their deceased offspring to run off to a war zone and kneel in bushes in the path of a D9 bulldozer.
http://cdn.pjmedia.com/files/2010/03/rachel-corrie-flag-burner2.jpg