Rachel Corie

Many people in the alternate press, particularly that based on the web, are today remembering the death of Rachel Corie. Rachel was a young American who was murdered by the Israeli military while protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip. In fact she was crushed under the tracks of the Israeli bulldozer she was attempting to stop.

I always feel it is important to consider in rememberances such as this, that Rachel was one among many thousands of innocent victims of the Israeli military and their depredations into Palestinian territory. It is a sad fact that Rachel, having been a young American woman, is seen in the eyes of many in West as somehow more noticable, or dare I say it more important than the many countless Palestinians murdered.

It both saddens and angers me that only when incidents of injustice and horror strike close enough to home that people are willing to take note. But I always try to remind myself that, despite the taint of pure self-interest, it is vital that others do take note. And with that taking note, I hope that at least one person resolves to make some kind of difference in stopping the injustice that occurs daily for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.