[Seattle-editorial] FEATURE PROPOSAL: Rachel Corrie

[jonathan lawson]

Evergreen Student Activist Killed by Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza

Olympia activist 
<http://www.indymedia.org.il/imc/israel/webcast/52394.html">Rachel 
Corrie</a>, in Gaza as part of international protests against the Israeli 
occupation of Palestinian territory, was run over by an Israeli bulldozer 
in the Rafah refugee camp. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she 
died. Corrie was part of a group of seven International Solidarity Movement 
activists attempting to stop Israeli forces from bulldozing Palestinian 
homes. . While many Palestinians are killed by occupation forces <a 
href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1222.shtml">every week</a>, 
Corrie is the first international working with the ISM to have been killed 
during the conflict.

<p>In recent weeks, ISM activists have focused on activities in Rafah, 
described as a "hot spot" in Gaza as occupation forces have adopted a 
strategy of pressuring residents by destroying municipal wells, as well as 
bulldizing houses along the outskirts of the community. In the past month, 
Israli forces have become more aggressive
On March 1, Corrie explained the activists' intention in a <a href=" 
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0303/S00019.htm ">detailed report: " Much 
of the destruction occurs at night.  Many of the streets of Rafah are 
impassable in the dark due to sniper towers positioned along the perimeters 
of Rafah.  In the dark, internationals attempting to carry out non-violent 
direct action rely on battery-charged lights, banners, and the accuracy of 
unknown local collaborators to make the Israeli military aware of their 
location.  Another factor in attempting to stop the destruction of a home 
is a variable factor: the question of whether the driver of a particular 
tank cares about injuring internationals in the process of destroying the 
welfare of the Palestinians living here."

<p>Corrie, 23, was a student at Evergreen State College, where she worked 
with the <a href="http://www.omjp.org">Olympia Movement for Justice and 
Peace</a>, opposing the Bush administration's plans for war in Iraq and the 
Palestinian Occupation.