Activism

Corrie verdict energizes worldwide movement to challenge Israeli impunity

On August 28th, the day that an Israeli Judge absolved the military of any responsibility in the 2003 killing of peace activist Rachel Corrie as she stood to protect a Palestinian home from demolition, the majority of the small Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta was demolished. In the South Hebron Hills, the Israeli military destroyed homes, animal shelters and water wells. Villagers tried unsuccessfully to stop the demolition by sitting on the excavator’s shovel. Eight villages in the region are currently at risk of evacuation because the Israeli military intends to use the area for military exercises.

The verdict in the Corrie civil case, that was handed down as the bulldozers tore through Khirbet Zanuta, confirmed that the Israeli legal system supports the military’s ability to act with impunity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This verdict, which has been condemned by Amnesty International and the Carter Center, proves the necessity of international civil society to take action in the hope that justice will one day be served. On August 10th the Rachel Corrie Foundation put out the following Call to Action. It reads in part:

“The Israeli policy of home demolitions, sometimes extending to entire villages, remains as urgent an issue now as it did when Rachel defended homes in Rafah, Gaza… We call on you individually and as organizations to mark the week of the trial verdict with actions to end the housing demolitions that deny Palestinians the basic human right of being secure in their homes.”

Human rights advocates worldwide have responded to the call and are taking such action across the globe

Solidarity action in front of TIAA-CREF Chicago Office August 30, 2012
Solidarity action in front of TIAA-CREF Chicago Office August 30, 2012 (Photo: Chicago Divests)

“The same bulldozer that crushed Rachel is still demolishing our homes,” said one of the representatives of the Popular Resistance Committee of the South Hebron Hills, while protesting in Mufaqarah, just hours after the destruction of the nearby village of Khribet Zanuta. “What we ask today is dignity and justice for Rachel and for our communities.” Demonstrations also occurred in Nablus and Kufr Qaddoum in the West Bank, at the location of Rachel’s killing in Rafah, Gaza, and outside the courthouse in Haifa, Israel.

Activists in the US, Italy, Germany, Palestine/Israel took action to demand corporate accountability. Letters were delivered and demonstrations held outside of TIAA-CREF offices in Houston, Honolulu, Boca Raton, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Palo Alto, Chicago, Washington DC and Phoenix as part of the We Divest campaign, a national coalition demanding pension fund giant TIAA-CREF divest from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands. In a major victory this summer, TIAA-CREF dropped Caterpillar from their social choice funds. However, they still have over $1 billion invested in Caterpillar in their general fund. In response to the Corrie verdict, We Divest has vowed to intensify the campaign for TIAA-CREF to divest completely from Caterpillar.

Actions were also held outside of Caterpillar dealerships, the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles and other related locations in Eureka, San Francisco, Hilton Head South Carolina and Oak Creek Wisconsin. A demonstration outside the State Department, organized by CODEPINK, is occurring today. The Occupy Movement, Students for Justice in Palestine, Women In Black, Jewish Voice for Peace and a growing number of community-based organizations heeding the 2005 Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions have mobilized in response to the verdict.

Solidarity action in front of TIAA-CREF Philadelphia Office 8/27/12 (Photo: JVP-Philadelphia)
Solidarity action in front of TIAA-CREF Philadelphia Office 8/27/12 (Photo: JVP-Philadelphia)

As activists took to the streets, social media actions intensified.  On the eve of the verdict a videofeaturing women from Gaza spread worldwide with a broad call to support BDS and divestment from Caterpillar. “Rachel gave her life for justice, the least you can do is take action against companies supporting injustice.”

In the United States, #RachelCorrie was among the ten most used hashtags on twitter the day of the verdict. The following day, between #BestMovieQuotes and #votebieber, #divest4justice trended in the top ten topics worldwide. A Tumblr blog was created and solidarity images uploaded from individuals and actions worldwide. Palestine solidarity activists were able to participate from home, in a growing democratized form of social action.

“I don’t think that Rachel should have moved. I think we should all have been standing there with her,” said Cindy Corrie in response to Judge Gershon’s comment that Rachel should have moved out of the way of the Caterpillar bulldozer. Rachel wrote from Gaza, “The international media and our government are not going to tell us that we are effective, important, justified in our work, courageous, intelligent, valuable. We have to do that for each other, and one way we can do that is by continuing our work, visibly.” May we continue to take Rachel’s words to heart, find ways to successfully mobilize ourselves, strengthen our networks, utilize new forms of communicating to affirm the just cause of the Palestinian people and stand with the movement for universal human rights in Palestine and Israel.

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This is just another in a long line of bias ruling by
Israeli courts. They have forgotten that the law should be fair to all not to assist those who steal land one arab home at a time. The IDF had knocked down 17,000 arab home prior to the time they murdered this womabn
this is a classic of Israel ruling:
Oswald Refeisen, a Polish Jew, voluntarily converted to Catholicism, eventually becoming Father Daniel of the Carmelite Order. He immigrated to Israel in 1958. As he had a Jewish mother and considered himself a Jew, he applied for the status of an oleh (aliyah) under the Law of Return.

When his request was denied, he took his case to the Supreme Court where a four-to-one majority decided that Father Daniel was not a Jew for the purpose of the Law of Return.

Stilberg, the presiding judge said: “A Jew who becomes a Christian cannot be called a Jew.”

If the 60 million Christian right expect a Second Coming of Jesus Christ into the Holy Land, they are in for a shock. His Jewish mother would not be good enough to get Him residency

Among all the events to observe and consider regarding the Rachel Corrie verdict there are two that stand out for me. Reading Amira Hass, Glenn Greenwald, Chris McGreal, Karl Vick, Adam H. and so many more dissect what this verdict means made me realize that not only has Rachel not been forgotten but that more and more of the media and of the world’s peoples are starting to understand the huge ramifications and policy implications of her death on both the Israeli and U.S governments. And, how Rochelle warmed my heart with her kindness and lovely smile as she moderated between Cindy and Craig in Haifa and us around the world.

Nearly ten years after Rachel’s death the understanding of what happened to her that day becomes clearer and clearer to many of us. There was no credible investigation; the chief investigator was a young man with little experience who never went to the site; the security camera panned away as the soldiers were getting new orders – not to return focus at the site until Rachel was crushed; Rachel was not killed on the Military Installations Area (the Philadelphi Route) as the Israelis hoped the Americans would believe but was crushed well inside Palestinian territory; the Israelis had no right to be off of the Philadelphi Route and in Palestinian territory – only the power to be there; three internationals were killed in a six week period time in the same area; the testimony of the driver and the commander both seated in the dozer that killed Rachel are in conflict; contrary to the judge’s contention there is nothing to suggest that this could be a closed military area and there was no written order presented to the court stating this; and the list goes on and on. So when the famous Dov Weisglas, Sharon’s right hand man told the U.S. government that he personally was overseeing the investigation it would suggest to the ordinary people of the world that he was inept….and one wonders why the U.S. government wants to continue to do business with this crowd.

As Rochelle points out to us….the momentum continues to build and roll forward. We all know that if Rachel does not get her day in court none of us will either and certainly none who live under occupation will. I often remember Shaden Abu Hijleh gunned down on her porch by the IDF and remember her sister telling me how she spoke so eloquently aqainst the occupation and how each week she would lay the flowers at the feet of the IDF machines in the weekly protest march. Her family also struggles for justice and truth.

As Craig tells us that we are on the right side of history and Cindy tells us that contrary to what the judge says Rachel should not have moved and that we all should have been with her I think of how warmed I was by Rochelle’s smile and laugh as we listened to Craig and Cindy explain where we are and where we need to go. Rachel is with us more than ever and it feels like the march of truth is only beating clearer.

Ken Stern, a specialist on anti-Semitism and extremism for the American Jewish Committee (AJC) authored an op-ed piece in the JTA a couple of weeks back entitled BDS Campaign may be Failing but its Effort to Delegitimize Israel Remains Dangerous that was filled with cherry-picked facts, twisted half-truths, and half-told tales.
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2012/08/30/ken-stern-and-the-american-jewish-committee’s-integrity-problem-by-rebecca-vilkomerson/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Muzzlewatch+%28MuzzleWatch%29

Just to keep this real, most Americans never heard of Rachel Corrie (or the USS Liberty). What do we do about that?

RE: “The same bulldozer that crushed Rachel is still demolishing our homes,” said one of the representatives of the Popular Resistance Committee of the South Hebron Hills, while protesting in Mufaqarah, just hours after the destruction of the nearby village of Khribet Zanuta.

ALSO SEE: “1,500 Palestinians face expulsion to make way for IDF ‘Firing Zone 918′” ~ By Eyal Raz, +972 Magazine, 8/29/12
“Firing Zone 918″ is the Israeli military’s term for a portion of land in the West Bank home to hundreds of Palestinians who have been there since the 19th century. Why are they under threat of eviction and how is it being done? A primer.

“We must maintain ‘the necessary fitness of the IDF’.”
This is the reason that the State of Israel has given for its recent order by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to destroy eight Palestinian villages and expel 1,500 residents from their land in the southern West Bank. “Firing Zone 918,” which the Israeli military wants for so-called training, includes 30,000 acres of private and agricultural land in the South Hebron Hills.
The Palestinian residents have lived and worked on these lands for generations. Since 1999, the threat of expulsion has hovered over their heads. The destiny of these villages will soon be decided.

1. A chronicle of expulsion and legal developments

Israel declared the area a “closed military zone” in the mid-1970s. In 1999 the Civil Administration issued demolition orders for dozens of buildings, and during October and November of the same year, Israeli authorities expelled over 700 residents from their homes and confiscated their property. Throughout the operation of expulsion the security forces sealed caves and demolished tents, wells and toilet structures. Four months later the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered [the Civil Administration] to allow the people to return to their land and forbade their expulsion pending a final decision. The defense minister and the general of the central command at the time tried to uphold the expulsion, partially to keep the area under Israeli control in negotiations.
In 2005, after the arbitration process ended with no agreement, the hearings resumed in an effort to avert the new demolition orders issued by the Civil Administration. (For the sequence of legal proceedings during these years and to witness the violence of security forces and settlers against the villagers facing eviction, click here.) For the next seven years, the interim orders temporarily thwarted the destruction of the villages.

Last July, the state informed the High Court that the defense minister’s position was that “permanent residency will not be allowed” in most of the area designated as a firing zone and that eight of the 12 villages originally included in the warrant will have to be evacuated. . . For procedural reasons unrelated to the fundamental arguments presented by the attorneys, the High Court ordered that the petitions be annulled. However, the interim order prohibiting the demolition will remain intact, and the residents will submit new petitions before its final date.

2. “Firing Zone 918″ as an illustration of policy

60.2 percent of the West Bank is designated as “Area C,” according to the Oslo map . . .

ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://972mag.com/1500-palestinians-face-expulsion-to-make-way-for-idf-firing-zone-918/54694/