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To: freepatriot32; Mount Athos; KylaStarr; Cindy; StillProud2BeFree; nw_arizona_granny; Revel; ...

Despite the source of this piece of journalism, the same questions have been asked in ALL political camps regarding the death of American Peace Activist, Rachel Corrie:
http://www.rachelcorrie.org/news.htm

"Israel absolved the two Israeli soldiers. They claimed they did not see Corrie, even though she stood right in front of the bulldozer wearing a bright orange fluorescent jacket. They even yelled at her before using the bulldozer, manufactured in Peoria, Illinois, to destroy the lives of another Palestinian family.

These are facts that can be investigated. Ironically, months later, three Americans were killed in the Gaza Strip and the FBI immediately sent in a team to determine who was at fault. But when the fault points toward Israel, as evidence surrounding Corrie's death suggests, the American government has a different attitude.

Corrie was not a terrorist. She did not support violence. She was advocating peace. She stood firm in defense of the Fourth Geneva Convention that prohibits the punishment of unarmed innocent civilians, violated by Collective Punishment.

Corrie died in clear violation of American laws, such as the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits the use of U.S. military funds and grants being used against civilians. She exemplified the very same spirit we honor in peace activists such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and India's revered leader Mahatma Gandhi."
http://www.ccmep.org/2004_articles/palestine/031504_rachel_corrie.htm

"Our Place in the World: Still no justice for Rachel Corrie
Rachel Corrie from Olympia was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Rafah refugee camp about a month before Hurndall was shot there. Like Hurndall, Corrie was a volunteer with the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation of Palestine (ISM). Like Hurndall, she was killed by an identifiable Israeli soldier. As in Hurndall's case, the Israeli government initially released a report on Corrie's killing, stating that nobody connected with the Israeli military was culpable and that further investigation was not required.

So, why has Hurndall's killer been charged when nothing has happened to Corrie's killer?

According to the Hurndall family, the only reason the soldier who shot him has been charged is because of pressure applied by the family. Hurndall's father is an attorney. He went to Rafah shortly after the shooting and compiled an extensive dossier of eyewitness affidavits, forensics reports, photographs and other relevant information. This dossier was put before the British foreign secretary in a way that made it very difficult to ignore. Ultimately, the British government went to bat for Hurndall, an unarmed British civilian killed by an Israeli soldier under the impression that he could shoot with impunity.

Indeed, the soldier had good reason to believe this. More than 2,000 unarmed Palestinian civilians, many of them children, have been killed in the occupied territories since the current intifada began in September 2000. Only 10 Israeli soldiers have been indicted and none has been convicted. A culture of impunity permeates the Israeli military, which is well known for its non-investigations of itself. For this reason, the Hurndall family would like to see the investigation of his death extend all the way up the chain of command.

Corrie's parents are not lawyers. In addition, they were told by members of the Washington state congressional delegation and State Department officials that if they quietly played along, justice for their daughter would ultimately be achieved. So far, all that has emerged is a non-credible Israeli military report claiming that 1) Corrie was not run over by a bulldozer and 2) even if she had been, the driver could not have seen her. These statements are contradicted respectively by the autopsy report and multiple eyewitness reports.

It is an insult to the human heart to have to force government officials to do their jobs properly while digesting the fact your child has been brutally killed.

Somehow the Hurndall family was able to take the necessary steps in the timeframe required. Believing what their congressman, senators and State Department officials told them, the Corries have been left to swallow lies.

Is this the best our members of Congress can do for a citizen killed abroad? Plenty of them made pretty speeches but real action is a question of political will."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/157721_ourplace23.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=51

The precedent set by the Boim vs. Hamas courtcase, and the attempt to appropriate designated Muslim charity funds of which the links to Hamas are as yet unproven, could re-open the Rachel Corrie case and should give all American taxpayers and Jewish Charities whose money is destined for Israel a pause for thought.

For example, US charity funds pay for settlers to arm themselves, and then carry out these kind of attacks:

2002
"Five people were injured Sunday, when settlers from Itamar attacked peace activists and Palestinian olive-pickers from the nearby village of Yinon.

In what appeared to be a response to the suicide bombing in Ariel, a group of armed settlers left the settlement of Itamar and headed toward an olive grove, where local residents, aided by peace activists from Israel and the United States, were harvesting the crop of olives.

The settlers, numbering between five and seven, pelted the olive-pickers and activists with stones, and beat them using their guns. The injured were taken to a private clinic in the nearby village of Akraba.

A Palestinian couple and their two children and four activists were treated in hospital for injuries including deep cuts and bruises, Yanoun Mayor Abdel Atif Isbeih said."
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=224005&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
These are by no means isolated incidents:

2004
"This morning, two members of CPT – Chris Brown (male, from San Franciso) and Kim Lamberty (female, from Washington, DC) were walking a group of children from their homes in Tuba to their school in al-Tuwani – a function that CPTers perform regularly for the children in Hebron and have now extended to outlying areas.

At 7:15, five men suddenly lunged at the two from the side of the road where they had been hiding, awaiting their approach. The men, wearing black scarves wrapped around their heads so that only their eyes were visible, assaulted the CPT volunteers with baseball bats and chains that they had brought with them. Kim fell and remained down. Chris remained standing for a while before falling, and continued to receive kicks and blows from the settlers. The five settlers spoke English and Hebrew to each other while unleashing their blows, and then ran away. The children had run off at the very beginning.

Chris and Kim remained conscious and used a cell phone to call their team, who reached them at 7:30. Their teammates called the Israeli military in the area, who took half an hour to arrive (a trip that should have been much faster), and the two were evacuated to the hospital in Beersheba, where they remain hospitalized. Kim has a broken arm and severe contusions of her right leg, leaving her unable to walk for a while. She may need surgery on the arm. Chris has a punctured lung, so a chest tube has been inserted. He also had severe blows to his head, but we are hoping there is no further damage."
http://www.cornerstonemag.com/pages/show_page.asp?662

It's not a question of taking sides at this point.(G_d forbid!) It's about the fact that a one family, (the Boim's) who have suffered the terrible loss of their beloved son to the Israeli-Palestinian war can claim compensation in the US in this way, surely this means that the families of US American Peace Activists who have been attacked or killed by US-Charity funded Israeli Settlers and/or US Taxpayer funded IDF might see some compensation for their equally terrible losses.




10 posted on 12/09/2004 1:18:00 AM PST by michellebertiaux
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To: michellebertiaux
Got your "peace activist" right here.

You might want to rethink this.

12 posted on 12/09/2004 7:11:34 AM PST by AnAmericanMother (. . . Ministrix of ye Chace (recess appointment), TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary . . .)
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To: michellebertiaux
The precedent set by the Boim vs. Hamas courtcase, and the attempt to appropriate designated Muslim charity funds of which the links to Hamas are as yet unproven

Wrong. The link WAS proven. Hence, the verdict.

13 posted on 12/09/2004 7:17:35 AM PST by Velveeta
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