Rachel Corrie's story.

On March 16th, 2003, an Israeli soldier driving a bulldozer two-stories high crushed to death 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, an American nonviolent human rights protestor. According to numerous witnesses and photographic documentation, she was killed intentionally.Rachel and a handful of others practicing Gandhian nonviolence in the Gaza Strip had been pleading with Israeli soldiers for two hours not to destroy a Palestinian family home.

Suddenly, the Israeli bulldozer operator began driving his giant bulldozer toward the home, Rachel sitting in the bulldozer’s path. Witnesses report that she then stood up on the mound of
debris and dirt pushed by the bulldozer blade and looked straight at the operator through the window. He continued, and she was pulled underneath the tractor, its blade crushing her.

He then backed up, running over her again, burying her deeper into the dirt. Three friends ran to Rachel and dug her out. According to an eyewitness report by Joe Smith of Kansas
City: "Her body was in a mangled condition, she said 'my back is broken!' but nothing else.

Her eyes were open and she was clearly in a great deal of pain." A Palestinian ambulance made it through Israeli forces, and took her to the hospital, where she died. Reports are unclear whether it was her fractured skull or the suffocation caused by crushed lungs and being buried in the dirt that caused her death.

George Bush has yet to condemn this atrocity by an "ally" who receives more US funding than any other nation on earth, over $10 million per day. Congress has yet to pass a resolution condemning this use of American tax money to kill an American citizen.

The U.S. State Department has yet to impose any diplomatic sanctions whatsoever against a government whose "apology" for one of its soldiers crushing a young, peaceful American student has consisted of calling it "regrettable," and blaming Rachel for the Israeli soldier's decision to kill her.

The American media have yet to accord this horror the attention it would normally merit, if it had been done by any other country on earth, including the U.S. government. We heard about Chandra Levy for many months. We read about the students in Tiananman Square for years. We heard news reports about Rachel Corrie for approximately two days.

Apart from her hometown Washington state newspapers, there were virtually no follow up stories -- no stories about the memorial service held the next day in Gaza that was broken up by an Israeli tank, while the bulldozer that killed her drove slowly, exultantly past.

No stories about Israeli forces blocking the ambulance carrying her remains from exiting Gaza. No stories about Rachel's grieving parents and siblings, about their inability to travel to Palestine. No stories.
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In a remarkable series of emails to her family, she explained why she was risking her life. Read more. and more.