Rachel Corrie (April 10, 1979–March 16, 2003) was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who traveled as an activist to the Gaza Strip during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. She was killed in Rafah when she tried to obstruct an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Caterpillar D9 bulldozer, in an effort to prevent what she believed was a home demolition. The circumstances of her death are disputed: the ISM claims that the bulldozer driver deliberately ran over her twice, while the IDF claims that the bulldozer driver didn't see her and that the cause of death was falling debris pushed over by the bulldozer. Other commentators speculated that the driver failed to see her or expected her to jump out of the way.
Her death sparked intense controversy, with various advocates blaming it on the IDF, the ISM, Palestinian violence, and on Corrie herself.
CORRIE'S DEATH
The Israeli military frequently uses armored bulldozers to destroy buildings and farmland in Rafah, inside what Israel has claimed as a "security zone" ("no man's land") near the border with Egypt. The IDF says that the demolitions are intended to uncover explosive devices, and destroy smuggling tunnels and firing positions. Palestinians are sometimes killed in demolition operations, which critics consider to be a form of collective punishment in violation of international law. Proponents see them as a legitimate measure of self-defense.
On March 16, 2003, Corrie was in a group of seven ISM activists (three British and four Americans) attempting to disrupt what they thought were house demolitions. The IDF later said it was not intending to demolish houses but was clearing debris and shrubbery to expose explosive devices.
The following is a description from Joseph Smith, an ISM activist from Kansas City, Missouri, of the events leading to Corrie's death: " noticed that two Israeli Army bulldozers and one tank entered onto Palestinian civilian property near the border and demolishing farmland and other already damaged structures. The military machine was severely threatening near-by homes, so the 3 activists went up onto the roof of one home, and then called for others to come.
:", I arrived, and one of the three activists in the house joined me on the ground . . . e began to disrupt the work of the bulldozers . . . At this point, Rachel and the two other activists joined us . . . Rachel and a British activist were wearing jackets that were fluorescent orange and had reflective stripping . . . , Rachel and two other activists began interfering with the other bulldozer, which was attempting to destroy grass and other plants on what used to be farmland. They stood and sat in its path, and though it would drive very close to them, and even move the earth on which they were sitting, it always stopped in time to avoid injuring them . . . , one bulldozer pushed Will, an American activist, up against a pile of barbed wire. Fortunately, the bulldozer stopped and withdrew just in time to avoid injuring him seriously, but we had to dig him out of the rubble, and unhook his clothing from the wire. The tank approached to see if he was ok. One soldier stuck his head out of the tank to see, and he looked quite shocked and dumbfounded, but said nothing . . . , he bulldozer drivers began waving at us, making faces, laughing, and shouting what sounded like lewd comments. One even removed his helmet and posed for a picture, which unfortunately didn't turn out. :", ne bulldozer, serial number 949623, began to work near the house of a physician who is a friend of ours . . . Rachel sat down in the pathway of the bulldozer . . . continued driving forward headed straight for Rachel. When it got so close that it was moving the earth beneath her, she climbed onto the pile of rubble being pushed by the bulldozer. She got so high onto it that she was at eye-level with the cab of the bulldozer. . . . Despite this, he continued forward, which pulled her legs into the pile of rubble, and pulled her down out of view of the driver . . . We ran towards him, and waved our arms and shouted, one activist with the megaphone. But continued forward, until Rachel was underneath the central section of the bulldozer . . . Despite the obviousness of her position, the bulldozer began to reverse, without lifting its blade, and drug the blade over her body again. He continued to reverse until he was on the boarder strip, about 100 meters away, and left her crushed body in the sand. Three activists ran to her and began administering first-responder medical treatment . . . She said, "My back is broken!" but nothing else . . . :", the ambulance arrived . . . She was still breathing and her eyes were open, but she was clearly in a great deal of pain . . . She was brought directly to the emergency room, and was in there when I arrived in a taxi. , she was pronounced dead . . ." Israeli journalist Judy Lash Balint, who was not present, disputes this account on her weblog, and claims that ISM's version is full of contradictions and misinformation. A major point of dispute is Corrie's interaction with the bulldozer and what really caused her death — a stroke from the blade or a falling debris, or whether she was crushed under the bulldozer tracks and blade. The eyewitness accounts of various ISM members and Palestinian witnesses are not consistent on these points. For example, they do not agree on whether Corrie was at first standing, sitting, kneeling, or lying in the path of the bulldozer. Though Joseph Smith said, "She sat down in front of it ...", other eyewitnesses described the event differently. Tom Dale of ISM stated "Rachel knelt down in its way," Greg Schnabel of ISM stated "Rachel was standing in front of this home," Richard Purssell of ISM stated "Rachel stood to confront the bulldozer ..." while Ali Al-Shaar (a Palestinian) stated "The American girl was lying in front of the bulldozer ..." Joseph Smith said " continued to drive until she was forced onto the top of the dirt he was pushing," Tom Dale stated "The bulldozer reached her and she began to stand up, climbing onto the mound of earth," Greg Schnabel stated "The bulldozer began to push up the ground from beneath her feet," Richard Purssell stated "Rachel climbed up the pile and at the one stage was looking into the cabin window," and Ali Al-Shaar stated "... the bulldozer took sand and put it over her."
Richard Purssell stated "She began to slide down the pile, however as soon as her feet touched the ground for some reason she fell forward. Maybe her foot was caught or the weight of the soil pushed her forward."
ISM activist Tom Dale was standing just yards away from Corrie. He told journalist Joshua Hammer, Jerusalem bureau chief for Newsweek:
:"The bulldozer built up earth in front of it. Its blade was slightly dug into the earth. She began to stand up. The earth was pushed over her feet. She tried to climb on top of the earth, to avoid being overwhelmed. She climbed to the point where her shoulders were above the top lip of the blade. She was standing on this pile of earth. As the bulldozer continued, she lost her footing, and she turned and fell down this pile of earth. Then it seemed like she got her foot caught under the blade. She was helpless, pushed prostrate, and looked absolutely panicked, with her arms out, and the earth was piling itself over her. The bulldozer continued so that the place where she fell down was directly beneath the cockpit. I think she would have been between the treads. The whole took place in about six or seven seconds," (Mother Jones, Sept-Oct 2003).
Smith's claim that they heard the bulldozer driver shouting at them (Smith, section 16:00-16:45 ), is contradicted by the driver. Dooby, an army reservist and Russian immigrant, told Hammer it is hard to communicate from the cabin of the bulldozer, because it is hard to see or hear. Armored bulldozers have noisy engines and thick plates of glass. Dooby has long experience as a bulldozer operator, according to Joshua Hammer. Hammer writes that, in an interview broadcast on Israeli television, Dooby said his field of vision was limited inside the D9 cabin and that he had no idea Corrie was in front of the machine. Dooby said:
:"You can't hear, you can't see well. You can go over something and you'll never know. I scooped up some earth, I couldn't see anything. I pushed the earth, and I didn't see her at all. Maybe she was hiding in there."
The IDF produced a video about Corrie's death that includes footage taken from inside the cockpit of a D9. It makes a "credible case," writes Hammer, who has not seen the video, that "the operators, peering out through narrow, double-glazed, bulletproof windows, their view obscured behind pistons and the giant scooper, might not have seen Corrie kneeling in front of them," (Mother Jones). ISM disputes the contents of the Mother Jones article. The ISM also placed photographs on a website it claimed showed the events leading up to Corrie's death. AP, Reuters, and many Internet discussion pages reported that the photographs showed two (perhaps three) different bulldozers and inconsistent pictures of the sun's movement across the skies. The ISM then changed the site to show a more consistent group of photographs.
Sumber: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/rachel-corrie/corrie-s-death.html
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