In a 2002 article, ISM co-founders Adam Shapiro and Huwaida Arraf wrote, “The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics, both non-violent and violent,” adding that “[i]n actuality, nonviolence is not enough…Yes, people will get killed and injured.”Commentary notes that Rachel Corrie was no peace activist.
Shapiro and Arraf lauded such deaths as “no less noble than carrying out a suicide operation. And we are certain that if these men were killed during such an action, they would be considered shaheed Allah.”
ISM activists and organizers have time and again justified terrorism and associated with terrorists.
In 2003 alone, for example, ISM activist Susan Barclay admitted in an interview that she worked with representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jidhad; terrorists originating from UK who had attacked the Mike’s Place bar in Tel Aviv, murdering three people, had, according to an Israeli report, ”forg[ed] links with foreign left-wing activists and members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)”; and senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Shadi Sukiya was arrested while he was hiding in ISM’s Jenin office and being assisted by two ISM activists.
...Corrie’s ISM colleague and handler, Joseph Smith eulogized Corrie, chillingly justifying the sacrifice of human life for the cause, stating:
“The spirit that she died for is worth a life. This idea of resistance, this spirit of resisting this brutal occupying force, is worth anything. And many, many, many Palestinians give their lives for it all the time. So the life of one international, I feel, is more than worth the spirit of resisting oppression.”
The ISM themselves wrote back in 2002 that they actively encouraged their volunteers to put themselves in danger:
Without a doubt the level of risk dramatically increased in this latest ISM campaign with internationals on the receiving end of shrapnel, live fire over their heads, tear-gassing, rubber bullets, sound bombs, beatings, interrogations, arrests and deportations. Without sounding crass, the benefits were many and obvious.
In an astonishing example of admitted conflict of interest, Time's Karl Vick notes (after saying that Israeli justice is hopelessly biased) that his wife had volunteered to assist the Corries in the court case. In fact, his wife Stacy Sullivan is the press contact for the Corries! Time apparently thinks that such an egregious conflict of interest is AOK as long as it is parenthetically mentioned in a long screed against Israel.
By the way, Vick quotes Corrie's sister as saying "I can say without a doubt that I believe my sister was seen as that bulldozer approached her." Here's what an Israeli D9 armored bulldozer looks like:
It doesn't look like the driver has a very clear view at all.
I have still not seen anyone actually point out where the Israeli judge says anything that is less than truthful.
And the Philadelphi Corridor that Israel was clearing was, under international law, legally controlled by Israel. As Wikipedia notes:
Under the provisions of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979, the buffer zone was controlled and patrolled by Israeli forces. After the 1995 Oslo Accords, Israel was allowed to retain the security corridor along the border.And this classic 2005 piece on The Forgotten Rachels is important to recall as well.
PJMedia had a nice article worth reading from 2010.
And if you are in a very politically incorrect mood, you can always re-watch my 2008 Rachel Corrie music video.
(h/t EG, CHA, Anne)