This might be going it too far. A google search showed that the woman was an organizer in theOlympia Movement for Peace and Justice , one of those pacifist organizations that sprang up immediately after Septemer 11th. However, there are definitely better ways to deal with this situation than a bulldozer running her over twice. NYT report American Protester Killed by Israeli Bulldozer in Gaza AZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- An American woman in Gaza to protest Israeli operations was killed Sunday when she was run over by an Israeli bulldozer, witnesses and hospital officials said. Rachel Corrie, 23, a college student from Olympia, Wash., had been trying to stop the bulldozer from tearing down a building in the Rafah refugee camp, witnesses said. She was taken to Najar hospital in Rafah, where she died, said Dr. Ali Moussa, a hospital administrator. Greg Schnabel, 28, of Chicago, said the protesters were in the house of Dr. Samir Masri. Israeli almost daily has been tearing down houses of Palestinians it suspects in connection with Islamic militant groups, saying such operations deter attacks on Israel such as suicide bombings. "Rachel was alone in front of the house as we were trying to get them to stop," Schnabel said. "She waved for the bulldozer to stop and waved. She fell down and the bulldozer kept going. We yelled, 'Stop, stop,' and the bulldozer didn't stop at all. It had completely run over her and then it reversed and ran back over her." Witnesses said Corrie was wearing a brightly colored jacket when the bulldozer hit her. She had been a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia and would have graduated this year, Schnabel said. The Israeli military and the U.S. State Department had no immediate comment. Groups of international protesters have gathered in several locations in the West Bank and Gaza during two years of Palestinian violence, setting themselves up as "human shields" to try to stop Israeli operations. Corrie was the first member of the groups, called "International Solidarity Movement" and backed by Palestinian groups, to be killed in the conflict. Several activists have been arrested in clashes with Israeli forces, and some have been deported by Israeli authorities. Schnabel said there were eight protesters at the site in Rafah, four from the United States and four from Great Britain. "We stay with families whose house is to be demolished," he told the Associated Press by telephone after the incident. Mansour Abed Allah, 29, a Palestinian human rights worker in Rafah, witnessed the incident. He said the killing should be a message to President Bush, who is "providing Israel with tanks and bulldozers, and now they killed one of his own people." Israel sends tanks and bulldozers into the area almost every day, destroying buildings near the Gaza-Egypt border. The Israelis say Palestinian gunmen use the buildings as cover, and arms-smuggling tunnels dug under the border terminate in the buildings. According to interim peace accords, Israel controls the border area, where there are clashes almost daily between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers.
But you see, this will eventually work. The logic is hard to refute. If you run bulldozers over people, destroy their hovels, intimidate them with military action, eventually they will become very compliant. They will not get angry and do anything they can to exact revenge. Just give it time.
Maybe if she had draped herself in an american flag. Still, the fact that this bulldozer guy didn't mind running over an unarmed women, regardless of where she's from, is pretty sick. Am I way off base in assuming that this isn't the first time a defenseless person has been purposely killed in this conflict? Both Israelis and the Palestinians don't seem to mind committing these acts. Anyways, R.I.P. Rachel Corrie.
First, I agree with all the sentiments here. This is freaking horrible and the driver should have also stopped. Nonetheless, this was also very r****ded. When a bulldozer is about to run you over, get out of the freakin way. Some may take this as me being insensitive. It's not, just imo, you get out of the way, regardless of the point you're trying to make. What suicide bombers never understand is that if they just put the same effort into doing something positive they can effect more change than their death will cause. This seems to be a similar situation, albeit one in which the protestor wasn't doing anything overly negative in the first place.
You can't compare this to a suicide bomber. I don't believe for a minute that the young woman thought the 'dozer would actually run over her. She expected to be arrested, imo. And she thought she was doing something positive.
I agree and I noted that. I just think that when the bulldozer is moving torwards you and is 10-15 feet away and hasn't slowed down, you move out of the way. If the house goes down, it goes down. At least you're not dead and can try other tactics / to do other positive things.
People laughed at the guy that died trying to jump over the Great Wall on a big wheel, but how is this any different?
Exactly. I don't think that was funny and I don't think this is funny. Death is never funny. Unless it's Osama Bin Laden.
To the Israelis, this is a war and the Palestinian terrorists are the enemy. One of the methods they use to fight that enemy is bulldozing perceived terrorist strongholds. Standing in front of that bulldozer is no different than standing between a soldier's rifle and the enemy. I wish the driver had stopped and gotten her out of the way, but she could have avoided the whole situation by not standing there in the first place. If the Israelis continue bulldozing (which I suspect they will), then her death was a meaningless act of stupidity.
This is a tragedy, but the woman shouldn't have been there in the first place. The moral of the story is: Try to save an Islamic militant's house, and expect to get bulldozed.
Well, it's not definate that the house or building was a militant's house. Weren't these people staying in the house? I think they would have noticed if they were hanging out with militants.
This is a war between the Isrealis and Palestinians, I do not kidd myself. But there is a humane and civilized and also clever way to fight a war, as opposed to countless barbaric ways. It is irresponsible and counterproductive to run over peace activists with a bulldozer even if they are misdirected. Just arrest the eight people there instead of taking a life.
Ah yes. Because all Islamic militants wear balaclavas and tote AK-47s, right? Just like the 9-11 hijackers did... Wait? Is it just possible that Israeli intelligence knew something that a 23 year old American college student didn't?
No, but if you see a tunnel for transporting weapons being used, or people planning where to sneak the next suicide bomber in, it looks waaaaay different than just a family. Also, the fact that the Israelis think knocking refugee camps down "deters" terrorism, makes me question how competent the people in charge really are. Only a fool would believe that this strategy works. Anyways, an innocent american is dead, she didn't get into a standoff with the bulldozer, she fell and the operator chose to run her over, twice. They haven't even offered an apology, our government hasn't even offered a comment. The Spin Doctors are in and they are working overtime.
A young woman was killed while she tried to help others by doing what she felt was right. Whether we agree with her actions or not, it's sad when someone who is brave enough to live their convictions is killed whille doing it. For the record, not everyone laughed about the Chinese BMX-er. In fact, there were numerous posters who pointed out the inappropriateness of laughing at others' fatal misfortunes.
