In memory of Rachel Corrie

Today, March 16, 2009, marks the 6th anniversary of the death in Gaza of American student and peace activist Rachel Corrie. This brave and compassionate young woman died at the age of 23 when she was mowed down by a US-made Caterpillar D9 military bulldozer in Rafah while trying to stop the unlawful demolition of a Palestinian home. The Caterpillar refused to stop.

"Rachel took it as self-evident that no Israeli soldier or bulldozer driver would dare kill the citizen of a country from whom Israel was requesting a $11 billion aid package," noted Morgan Guyton in a CounterPunch article two days after Rachel's death. Sadly, if that was indeed Rachel's assumption, she was wrong. Dead wrong.

And now, six years later, the destruction of Palestine continues, paid for with our tax dollars and equipped by Caterpillar.

God bless America.

In 2004, Amnesty International published a comprehensive report on the demolitions from a human rights perspective. Download it now: Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property