Seeking answers from Israel
By Cindy Corrie, 3/18/2004
A YEAR AGO this week, my daughter Rachel Corrie was killed in Rafah in
the Gaza Strip. She was run over by an Israeli bulldozer manned by two
soldiers. The Israeli government exonerated the soldiers, closed the case,
and refuses to release to the US government the complete report on the
military police investigation into Rachel's killing.
Only the "conclusions" of the report have been released. In them,
the soldiers are identified by their initials: Sergeant Y.F. and Sergeant E.V.
Their initials are nearly all we know of them. I wonder about Y.F. and E.V. I
wonder whether they will pause this week and remember.
Rachel was an unarmed peace activist trying to prevent the demolition of
the home of a Palestinian pharmacist, his wife, and three children. She
believed that nonviolent direct action against the Israeli occupation would
make Palestinians, and also Israelis and Americans, more secure. Rachel stood
there to protect a home and family in Gaza because the United States and
Israel rejected a UN proposal to send international human rights monitors
there. International activists went instead. Rachel stood there protesting
illegal home demolitions that the United States opposes on the record yet
fails to stop -- destruction that we support with billions in annual military
aid to Israel for bulldozers,
Apache
helicopters, F-16s, and more.
Rachel wrote to me from Rafah: "This has to stop. I think it is a good
idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I
don't think it's an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to
dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my
coworkers. But I also want this to stop."
On March 17, 2003, President Bush spoke with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
about Rachel's killing. Sharon assured Bush that the Israeli government would
undertake a "thorough, credible, and transparent investigation" and
would report the results to the United States.
On March 19, 2003, Richard Boucher, spokesman for the State Department,
noted in reference to Rachel: "When we have the death of an American
citizen, we want to see it fully investigated. That is one of our key
responsibilities overseas, to look after the welfare of American citizens and
to find out what happened in situations like these."
In Congress, Representative Brian Baird of Washington state introduced a
bill calling on the US government to "undertake a full, fair, and
expeditious investigation into the death of Rachel Corrie." Others warned
that passage was unlikely because of strong sentiment in Congress to avoid any
legislation that appears critical of Israel. Nevertheless, 56 House members
have signed the bill.
Despite promises of a transparent investigation, only two American Embassy
staff members in Tel Aviv and my husband and I were allowed to
"view" the full document. While it refers to evidence gathered by
the Israeli military police, no primary evidence is included. Commenting on
the report on July 1, 2003, Richard LeBaron, US Embassy Deputy Chief of
Mission in Tel Aviv, stated, "there are several inconsistencies worthy of
note."
For our family, the report raises questions and fails to reconcile
differences between Israeli soldiers who say they could not see Rachel and
seven international eyewitnesses who say she was clearly visible. Despite
lingering concerns, there has been no move by the White House, the State
Department, or the Justice Department to initiate a US investigation. Some ask
if a precedent exists for investigating in another country without being
"invited." The Israeli government has apparently not extended such
an invitation.
The London Metropolitan Police, however, are now conducting inquests into
the deaths in Rafah of British nationals Tom Hurndall and James Miller. In a
seven-week period in 2003, Tom, James, and Rachel were all struck down in the
same area, where the Israel Defense Forces are building a high steel wall and
demolishing Palestinian homes. Remarkably, the London police recently
transferred the Hurndall and Miller cases to one coroner, reasoning that a
series of similar deaths in a short time could indicate "a more complex
systematic problem" within the Israeli military.
Our family continues to call for a US investigation into Rachel's death. As
we wait, I still wonder about Y.F. and E.V. I wonder whether they, too, see
images of Rachel lying before the bulldozer. I wonder whether they, too, are
suffering, or whether March 16, 2003, was for them just another day on the
job. I wonder.
Cindy Corrie, a former educator and music teacher,
lives in Olympia, Wash.
© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.