But neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post reported on the Israeli Supreme Court decision. Jamil Dakwar, the director of the ACLU’s human rights program, tweeted the Al Jazeera story above and asked the NY Times:
American citizen was denied justice in Israeli courts. Is that not “news that’s fit to print”?
Michael Slackman, international managing editor of the Times, responded:
appreciate your noting this but it did run in the NYT on Feb. 12
Slackman is referencing this AP story posted at the Times site on Feb. 12: “Israel Court Rejects Appeal in Death of American Activist.” The same short piece appeared in the Washington Post online, too.
As Dakwar reminds the Times: “It wasn’t published in the print version, was it?”
No; and the matter is not a trivial oversight. As the Corries pointed out, the U.S. government continues to call for an open and transparent investigation by Israel, but there has never been one– and there have never been consequences to Israel for its inaction. The Israeli court decision did not come up at the State Department briefing last week– even at a time when the killing of Kayla Mueller, one country over, is seen as a cause for the U.S. to go to war. And both Kayla and Rachel had served in the International Solidarity Movement that works for Palestinian human rights.
Rachel Corrie’s case is a historic case, and another example of the substantial price paid by Americans for Israel’s occupation. A stage production based on her letters and diaries will open in New York in a couple of months (as the Times notes elsewhere). Her courageous family has been fighting for justice in the case for years. They write:
We have taken this path for Rachel, the daughter and sister we love, lost, and miss. Her spirit lives. She has inspired all of our actions and will continue to do so.
On the one hand, my reaction is that in waiting for these bastions of American Zionist Media to change, you are waiting for the zebra to change his stripes. What honest juror waits for the criminal’s lawyer to plead guilty before accepting the overwhelming evidence of guilt? On the other hand, it does seem to be true that for some people facts don’t matter if they are not printed by selected gatekeepers.
For example, over at Slate, Michael Kinsley is presenting a modified limited hangout version of the truth:
“Call me naive, but I was shocked to read, in books published in the past couple of years by two liberal Jewish newspaper columnists—Richard Cohen of the Washington Post (Israel: Is It Good For The Jews?) and Ari Shavit of Israel’s Haaretz (My Promised Land)—about what happened in a village called Lydda, now the site of Ben Gurion International Airport.* None of this is exactly a secret. Morris has written several books that discuss it in detail. But like the rape allegations against Bill Cosby, which were in public documents for years before they became common knowledge, it’s possible for something to be known and unknown at the same time.”
Evidently, it was only the fact that “two liberal Jewish newspaper columnists” wrote about this that allowed the shocked Kinsley to learn (an edited version of) what happened. Kinsley’s piece is published under a promising headline, and includes some statements that evidently represent an advance for him. On the whole, it still strikes me as an evasion. The Arabs are to blame for the Palestinians’ plight; they attacked Israel, they didn’t absorb the refugees. Just reading his version of history and morality leaves me feeling soiled. But maybe I’m being unfair.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/02/israelis_and_arabs_contested_history_victims_don_t_have_the_right_to_rewrite.html
“At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.”
Aristotle
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“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
“Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.”
Elie Wiesel
(Yeah, I know~ ironic)
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I was glad (surprised) to hear a snippet on NPR news 2/13 ca 11am ET last week~ I got to hear Mrs. Corrie’s voice. But that was all it was~ a snippet.
The Guardian had an article.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/12/rachel-corrie-family-appeal-israel-court
But the 2 US biggies couldn’t be bothered. It speaks volumes, doesn’t it?
Otherwise they ‘used’ Kayla Mueller (RIP) 24/7, all the while either omitting or downplaying her work with and for Palestinians, and suiting their own agenda.
How fucking ironic….? is that the word for it?
The US courts are filled to bursting with lawsuits in behalf of Jews—where the US government is acting as lawyers for US Jews suing Saudi, China, France, Iran, Palestine…..for reparations, terrorist financing acts,etc.–you name it, they’ve sued for it using the US courts.
And yet the US does nothing for Americans killed by Israelis.
I can only imagine how the Corries feel about being ignored and abandoned by the US…..which they have been in spades.
The victims of Israel-US should form a club with the USS Liberty suriviors.
Had enough of it yet America?
BTIFCTTGASO
Mmmm. “The Israeli court affirmed a lower court ruling 2-1/2 years ago that the Israeli Defense Ministry could not “be held accountable for events that take place in a war zone,”
International Law disagrees. A Defense Ministry is one of the 1st shopping stops when looking for war criminals.
All the army does is OK in a war zone (by the Israeli S/C) — but what about a zone of occupation where the occupier has responsibilities? Oh, yes, Israel now claims not to occupy Gaza which (in Israel’s view) has reverted to being an unoccupied part of ?? Palestine? And the soldiers firing on farmers in the close-to-Israel no-go-zone is not occupation? Not a military enforcement of control?