The great Joel Beinin at MERIP offers a startling conclusion from the groundbreaking showing of Rachel at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival: "More and more American Jews find themselves attracted to the moral commitment that animates Rachel, and left cold by the tactics of pressure groups that spend so much money to shut down debate over Israel and its occupation policies. And that is why the pressure groups are beginning to fail."
Along the way, Beinin reports on Simone Bitton’s film’s findings about Corrie’s killing:
Rachel devotes very careful attention to the circumstances of the protagonist’s death. Like a forensic detective, Bitton gathered pertinent oral testimonies, documents, photographs and video footage. Only the voices of those directly involved are heard: Corrie’s ISM colleagues and Palestinian friends and hosts in Rafah, ISM co-founder Andoni, the Israeli military police officer who investigated the case, the Tel Aviv coroner who examined the body, and Jonathan Pollak, a member of the Israeli group, Anarchists Against the Wall (and brother of filmmaker Shai Carmeli Pollak), who put up Corrie’s colleagues in his Tel Aviv home after she died. Rachel Corrie herself is heard as well, through a narrator’s readings of her e-mails home.
There are no abstract political proclamations. Conflicting testimonies are juxtaposed. It is notable that, of all the persons interviewed, Andoni is the only one who considers that he may bear some responsibility for Corrie’s death, since he trained her and sent her to Rafah. Simone Bitton proceeds like an attorney questioning witnesses, sans speeches to the jury or inferences from the testimony. This technique makes the film a powerful documentary record whose value goes far beyond Bitton’s obvious sympathy for Corrie and her questioning of the official story.
That story — “It is clear the death of Ms. Corrie was not caused as a result of a direct action by the bulldozer or by its running her over” — does not hold up well under Bitton’s lens. On camera, the Israeli military police officer who led the investigation expresses a twinge of doubt about his own conclusions. He admits that he did not visit the site of the Nasrallah home and relied primarily on the testimony of soldiers. Among the eyewitnesses he did not interview were the ISM volunteers who saw the bulldozer run over Corrie from a distance of as little as ten yards. They maintain that their comrade was quite purposely run over, not once, but twice. The official claim that the bulldozer driver did not see Corrie because she was behind a pile of dirt is definitively disproved by Israeli army video footage that shows her standing on top of the mound, wearing a highly visible reflective orange jacket, as the bulldozer approached..
It is not only the Israeli officials whose conduct is suspect, the film goes on to show. The coroner acknowledges that the Corrie family had a right to be present at the autopsy; since they could not attend, it would have been proper for the US embassy in Tel Aviv to send a representative. Yet embassy officials, despite the request of the Corrie family that they witness the procedure, told the coroner that they were not interested in doing so. Therefore, he proceeded on his own.
The Corrie family has tried persistently to get the US government to mount its own inquiry. A resolution introduced by their congressman, Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), directing the Department of Justice to open an investigation received 78 co-sponsors but died in committee. John McKay, the former US Attorney for western Washington and one of eight US attorneys fired by the Bush administration in 2006, told the Corries, “There will never be a US investigation into Rachel’s case.” The US government remains loath to intercede despite its own position, recorded in a letter to the Corries from former State Department official Lawrence Wilkerson and never rescinded, that Israel’s investigation was inadequate.
Did the bulldozer driver, whose name is kept confidential by the Israeli army, intentionally kill Rachel Corrie? The film is agnostic on this point.
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there is something very wrong with the way israel responds to peaceful protests and protesters.. it suggests israel is unable to come to terms view different viewpoints.. it suggests that israel has become very rigid, hardened and inflexible in its response to peaceful protest.. rachel corries life is one of the clearest moments of insight into this aspect of israels character and must really eat at considerate and thoughtful israeli citizens or those advocating on it’s behalf at present..
I believe that “those advocating on it’s behalf” have to first be willing to look at facts. Now, Richard Perle and David Frum in 2003, more than most of us would have been able to discuss the case with people like American Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurzer and Richard LeBaron both stationed in the American Embassy in Israel. Also, Jeffrey Feltman who was in the Jerusalem Consulate all of whom were in charge of data collection, interfacing with the Israelis and the Palestinians, were responsible for assessing the case from a Leahy standpoint, i.e. that U.S. arms are not to be used in human rights violations, and basically all of the assessing and receiving IDF imput. However, they chose to spin the Israeli line regarding Rachel. There is little in their book to believe they wanted to look at facts. Spring forward to the article in the Tablet that Phil and Adam have posted regarding the movie, Rachel, and the reporter calls her death an accident, choosing the IDF version over the U.S. statement that the investigation was inadequate.
When we were on Capitol Hill several years ago, Representative Tom Lantos aide asked us: “You don’t think they did it on purpose do you?” We replied, “How can we know if there has not been a credible investigation?” My thought then as now was that it matters little what I believe the IDF/Mossad/even the shared U.S/Israeli counterterrorism teams might be capable of doing. All that matters is the facts, the quality of the investigation/autopsy and that there is a group of reasonable/justice minded people to make judgement.
Meanwhile we have those who cannot believe that Shaden Abu Hijlah, Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurndall, James Miller and Brian Avery, all talented activists who nonviolently stood up to the Israeli occupation and who continued to work, write, photograph, give news conferences etc. in the face of intimidation, is anything but an accident.
Where are the Palestinian Gandhis? Dead or in prison. Stopped from standing up to the Israeli military. Stopped from getting info into the U.S.
This weeks action in Bi’lin is more in the long line of Israeli intimidation that started long before Rachel Corrie’s death.
Israeli intimidation seems to say it all… that is what israel as a country has come down to… hard to hold a positive image of oneself if that is a prime characteristic of ones country..
RE: “More and more American Jews find themselves attracted to the moral commitment that animates Rachel…”
*** Rachel Corrie Soccer Tournament Fundraiser ***
What: A community soccer tournament in the Yebna neighborhood of Rafah, Gaza.
Why: Cut off from the world by a brutal siege, the people of the Gaza strip live with hunger, massive unemployment, and frequent attacks by the Israeli army. Stress and anger lead to hopelessness and rage, with the youth being particularly vulnerable. This innovative, community-developed soccer tournament gives neighbors a chance to strengthen bonds and relieve the stress caused by the dire situation.
When: The month of Ramadan, August 21st – September 14th.
Funds Needed: $10,500 U.S. / Raised thus far $2,450 / Fundraiser Ends: August 3oth
*** MORE INFO / DONATIONS - http://www.palestinereview.org/Rachel_Corrie_Soccer_Tournament/Welcome.html
I am a bit weary from all the (lack of ) proper responses in the form of actions by ANY of the players with repect to UN, ICC, and all the other whom are sitting on their hands and allowing such blatten humanrights violators continues with different definitions to the genocidal cases that are so obvious it is dumbfounding.
There will never be any justice, or right of return and abass will see that the Palestinians are sold down the river with the blessings of all supporters silent and not silent such as the Saudi whom should and could have placed a strangle hold till the actions are completed for withdrawl and right of return given. Never the less…the lack of any real powerful response to quwell the insanity of the past 60+ years of tourter and sytematic human rights violations. The laws MUST be enforced and the problem MUST be publicized at once and all those whom are supporters EXPOSED !
Otherwise the site such as this is completely irrelavent and useless.
I apologize for the spelling errors.
Rachel’s legacy will not die — it will grow inexorably as the . The freak-out of the Zionist crowd is attributable to fact that the murder of Rachel is an inconvenient truth: the US has virtually nothing in common with our “only democratic friends in the region” Israel. Israel has proven itself to be a rogue nation that has none of the values of the NATO alliance, and deserves none of our support — financially, militarily, politically, diplomatically.
Every young citizen of Israel must serve in the IDF. Accordingly, Israel is creating an entire generation of militaristic, humanistically-disconnected young people who see the Palestinians as sub-human. The fact that Israel is a “Jewish state” doesn’t help, because it give context to killing women and children guilt-free. Hey, our God says it’s cool!
http://aidanmaconachyblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/israel-idf-rabbis-pushed-religious-war.html
It is not only the Israeli officials whose conduct is suspect, the film goes on to show. The coroner acknowledges that the Corrie family had a right to be present at the autopsy; since they could not attend, it would have been proper for the US embassy in Tel Aviv to send a representative. Yet embassy officials, despite the request of the Corrie family that they witness the procedure, told the coroner that they were not interested in doing so. Therefore, he proceeded on his own.
The autopsy was requested by the IDF, not the Corrie family. In order to do the autopsy the IDF went to the Israeli court system for permission. The Israeli court system preferred that the family give permission. The Corries were unaware that they had a choice. With the State Dept. not wanting them to go to the Mideast (remember this was occurring at the exact same time as the U.S. invasion of Iraq) the Corries gave permission for the autopsy provided a U.S. official was present. That is how the Israeli Court gave permission for the autopsy. It was an IDF official who received the court order stipulating American presence.
Having not had the opportunity to see the film yet it is unclear to me whether the coroner, Mr. Hiss, speaks of the court order or not. It is more than questionable whether the U.S. State Dept. would agree with Mr. Hiss’s statement as noted int this article.
So, bottom line, no American was there? And we have to accept Israel spokes people for what happened to young Rachael Corrie? So, she’s an intelligence ship, like the USS Liberty? Great to know.
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