Who Are You Going To Believe—the Israeli Military or Your Eyes?

Do you remember the sad story of Rachel Corrie? She was a young American activist who traveled to the Palestinian ghetto of Gaza to protest the bulldozing of Palestinian homes by the bully Israeli government. Acting as a human shield, she was slain by an Israeli army bulldozer that was razing the Palestinian home she was standing in front of. The Israeli military claimed it was an accident—the operator of the Caterpillar* bulldozer didn’t see Rachel standing in front of him. Rachel’s family has gathered eyewitnesses to the incident to testify in a civil lawsuit against the Israeli military that Rachel was, in fact, quite visible to the bulldozer operator. The three eyewitnesses (activist colleagues of Rachel) had been denied entry into Israel (No!! Really??), but under pressure from the U.S. government (I know—I’m just as shocked as you are), the three will be allowed to enter Israel to testify.

By the way, Rachel’s diaries were turned into a play called My Name Is Rachel Corrie. Remind you of another young girl murdered by bullies whose diary was turned into a dramatic work? Hmmm?

[Thanks to Deb Tiedemann]
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*It’s bad enough we sell military equipment to the Israelis. Now, even American products that were built for constructive (i.e., peaceful) purposes—such as a Caterpillar bulldozer—have found a way to be used for destructive (in Rachel’s case, murder) purposes by the Israelis too.

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6:49 pm on February 24, 2010