Most Americans don’t know the name Rachel Corrie, or why she died nine years ago, but they should.
Rachel Corrie was a peace activist from Olympia, Washington killed by an Israeli army bulldozer on March 16, 2003 as she peacefully stood in front of a Palestinian home in the Gaza strip that was to be demolished by Israel. The United Nations, human rights groups, and even Israelis have condemned the strategic destruction of Palestinian homes.
Rachel Corrie's life was no more or less precious than the lives of the thousands of Palestinians who have died under Israeli occupation, or the millions who still live in apartheid. But Rachel's death notably demonstrates the impunity of the Israeli government and it calls into question the alliance between the U.S. and Israel.
There have been at least 65 U.N. resolutions condemning Israeli for its treatment of Palestinians including home demolition and its belligerency towards its Arab neighbors. The international community has consistently spoken out against Israel. The U.S. seems to be the only nation that ignores Israeli crimes. Not only do we ignore their crimes, we enable them. Though Israel has the fourth most powerful military in the world, the U.S. government continues to give Israel more than $3 billion annually in military aid which Israel uses to maintain it's apartheid regime.
In the past few days, Israeli airstrikes have killed 25 Palestinians in Gaza. This is the largest military attack since Operation Cast Lead left 1400 Palestinians dead. In 2010, the IDF murdered nine civilians in international waters who were attempting to non-violently break Israel’s illegal blockade on Palestine. Now Prime Minister Netanyahu is openly speaking of attacking the sovereign nation of Iran.
Enough is enough. Peacemakers must call into question the unconditional alliance between the U.S. and Israel. The U.S. support for the Israeli government makes us complicit with the illegal, immoral policies and actions of the Israeli government.
Rachel Corrie sacrificed her life by standing in front of a bulldozer in an effort to protect innocent people. We must all honor Rachael’s life by standing in front of the metaphorical bulldozer of aggression, violence and war. Veterans For Peace calls on all to demonstrate the same courage of our convictions that Rachel showed us.