Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Rachel Corrie's death is not merely a 'regrettable accident'

Independent Jewish Voices - Canada rejects Haifa District Court's decision to remove any blame from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) or the Israeli driver of the military bulldozer that killed 23-year old Rachel Corrie nearly a decade ago. In a decision issued today, Judge Oded Gershon called her death a “regrettable accident."

In March 2003, Corrie, an American peace activist from Washington State, stood in front of the house of a local pharmacist in Rafah, Gaza. Dressed in a bright orange security vest, she and other members of the International Solidarity Movement peacefully stood in front of the home to prevent its demolition.

In what appeared on video to be a deliberate move, an unidentified IDF bulldozer driver drove the huge machine so close to her that she toppled over the mound of earth on which she stood. As a result, she fell into the bulldozer's path and died.

Corrie's parents and family have led a ten year battle to find out what really happened to their daughter and who was to blame for her death. Today outside the court Rachel's mother, Cindy Corrie, told reporters, "From the beginning it was clear that there is a system to protect soldiers and provide them with impunity at the cost of civilians. Now we now that the protection for soldiers extends to the court."

"IJV-Canada, along with thousands of social justice supporters all over the world, stand with the Corrie family. Israel's whitewash of Rachel Corrie's death signals that it will continue to be 'business as usual' on the part of Israel in its military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank," says Judy Haiven, spokeswoman for IJV-Canada, speaking from Halifax.

"Israel's illegal and brutal occupation of Palestinian lands continues in this its 45th year. IJV-Canada sympathises with the Corries and pledges to continue to fight for Palestinian human rights and an end to the Occupation," Haiven concluded.

Independent Jewish Voices-Canada is a Canadian human rights organization whose mandate is to promote the just resolution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for human rights for all parties. 

Original Article
Source: rabble.ca
Author:  Independent Jewish Voices 

No comments:

Post a Comment