Rachel Aliene Corrie

No Justice for Martyred Internationalist

On 28 August 2012, an Israeli court in Haifa rejected charges that the Israeli Defense Forces or Israel’s Ministry of Defense were in any way responsible for the killing of American internationalist and solidarity activist Rachel Corrie in 2003.

In a widely televised and reported event, Ms. Corrie, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, an organization which calls for non-violent protest against the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, was crushed to death by an Israeli Defense Force bulldozer that was demolishing Palestinian homes in retaliation for the acts of “terrorists.” As photographs taken by eyewitnesses demonstrate, Ms. Corrie, who was wearing a fluorescent jacket and speaking into a megaphone at the time, was deliberately run over by the bulldozer’s driver.

Ms. Corrie’s murder sparked worldwide outrage against the Israeli regime and demands that those responsible be held accountable for their acts. The Haifa court’s decision makes it extremely unlikely that any justice will be had.

In the years since her killing, Rachel Corrie has been the subject of numerous posthumous tributes and memorials, including a successful play, My Name is Rachel Corrie, directed by British actor Alan Rickman. Let Me Stand Alone, a collection of Ms. Corrie’s writings was published by W. W. Norton and Company in 2008.

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