Q&A with Craig and Cindy Corrie

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/atlanta_world/1103/12corrie.html

On March 16, a 23-year-old woman from Olympia, Wash., was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer trying to demolish the Gaza Strip home of a Palestinian doctor. The death of Rachel Corrie, a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, sent shock waves among activists. An Israeli investigation concluded the driver of the bulldozer was not at fault. Since her death, Rachel's parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, have been in the public spotlight. They will be in Atlanta on Thursday. They spoke by phone this week with Journal-Constitution staffer Shelia M. Poole. Here are excerpts.

Q: After Rachel's death, you and your husband became much more active in the Palestinian cause. Why?

Cindy Corrie: We thought the situation was terribly tragic all of our lifetimes. But our understanding of it was very limited. We, as a family, certainly felt an allegiance to Israel and empathy with the Israeli people and Jewish people because of how they had suffered. That's where our sympathies were. We really didn't start to fully understand the complexity of it all and the Palestinian piece of it until Rachel became involved.

Q: Were you worried about Rachel's safety?

Craig: More so after she got there. In her e-mails, she talked about the Israeli military shooting in the buildings when they don't know who's there. When she used to call us, she would say, "Did you hear that? Did you hear that?" It was machine gun fire from the Israeli tanks.

Q: Do you want to meet the driver of the bulldozer that killed Rachel?

Craig: At some point, maybe. . . . We're not looking for revenge. We don't know what happened. For Cindy and me, we have to take ownership that our tax dollars paid for that bulldozer to be there. We support the rights of Israeli citizens to live without fear but . . . we have to support the rights of the Palestinians to live without fear.

in my view.

anyone wanting to learn more about the murder of Rachel Corrie should definitely check out this website:

Rachel Corrie Memorial ~ 1979-2003

Rest in peace, Rachel.

2 replies to yourself.

is there a problem with doing so?

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

saying that the driver of the bulldozer could clearly see her and knew she was there, and then when he BACKED OVER HER after running over her, I'd say he knew exactly what he was doing, he knew he wouldn't suffer any consequences for it, and I'd call that a murder.

...is that something like that can't be a murder because no-one's been charged with murder. Which is completely wrong, because everyone knows that murders do happen that no-one gets charged over, and that doesn't make them any less a murder. Because of the lack of any real investigation into the circumstances surrounding Rachel Corrie's death, I think the only way people can say that she was murdered or she wasn't is if they tack a big 'IN MY OPINION' onto their words. Unfortunately some who state that she wasn't murdered aren't inclined to do that, and it also makes me wonder what info they have that no-one else possesses for them to be able to state it with such certainty...

Violet...

is their adamant, unshakeable, Israel-is-always-right-and-can-do-no-wrong attitude, which makes them not want to listen to any evidence otherwise. Because she was protecting the home of an elderly Palestinian doctor from being bulldozed to grab more land for the settlements which are illegal in the first place, they think anyone helping any Palestinian at all, no matter what the circumstances, was fair game for the Israelis.

that what that man in the bulldozer did was illegal by international law and that anyone confronting it is a hero by my definition...

who ordered the hit?

specific "order." He probably knew he could get away with it, as he obviously has so far.

if it weren't for the overall strategy of silencing the non-violent movement against Israeli occupation and aggression.

But, because there is clearly an agenda to smear and marginalize the Peace Activism of the Left, with deportations, other shootings, harassment, wild claims of anti-semitism, etc ... then I think we have to question the possibility that this bulldozer driver was acting on orders from above.

I hear ya on that one!

Since we've already discussed this subject a few dozen times before, I'm glad to see you agree there is no need to repeat the whole thing again.

you can never get enough of the "PROPAGANDA QUEEN OF
THE ISM".

I should go find the link to it, but I was reading an article about Patti Smith last night (and shame on you to anyone who doesn't know who Patti Smith is), and she's dedicated a new song of hers to Rachel Corrie...

Here you are. I just found it again...

"Early in the set, Smith dedicates a new song to martyred activist Rachel Corrie, adding, ¡°If you don¡¯t know who she is, I¡¯ll tell you later.¡± She never does. At the end of the show, she segues from The Declaration of Independence into a litany of the atrocities of George W. Bush and glides into a rendition of ¡°People Have the Power,¡± a song that loaned its name to the tour she has been doing with Ralph Nader. As Smith¡¯s work has transitioned from the personal to the more overtly political, Nader has supplanted Mapplethorpe as her ideological consort.

She sings:

I believe everything we dream
can come to pass through our union
we can turn the world around
we can turn the earth¡¯s revolution
we have the power
people have the power
And then she spits."

http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=470_0_4_0_C


Violet...

for the time being. You'll have to wait.

I didn't ask a question or anything, I was just pointing out something I'd read. When I do ask questions, I'm very patient, so there's no need for you to pop up telling me that I might have to wait for replies, okay?

Violet...

Do you know something that we don't?

Let me help you, Mr. Corrie...

Heres what happened....your daughter listened to Simona Sharoni's self hating bullshit at Evergreen College, hooked her up with a bunch of terrorist sympathizers called the ISM and you and your wife let her go into a war zone where the ISM filled her empty head with more propaganda, then used her to protect terrorist tunnels and when a tragic accident happened,while the IDF was attempting to stop the slaughter of innocents israelis from the very weapons tunnels that your daughter was protecting ,the ISM hit the 'mother-load' and used her death as the ultimate propaganda tool.

Hope that helps,sir.

..about her tearing up an American flag. No demonization of Rachel Corrie is complete without that item.

.

First, burning an American flag is protest. It's not always hatred. Corrie is actually quoted for talking about how great the freedom in her country is compared to the OT.

Second, she wasn't helping terrorists. It was explained on this board before. She was in front of a doctor's house (not a terrorist's house that we know of), and was protecing an ENTIRE STREET of neighborhoods from a bulldozing.

Then afterwards, while open minded people like myself waited for answers from anybody (including IDF) about what happened, the pro-Israeli groups cooked up some "defense" for the person who killed Corrie by talking about how Corried burned a flag, supposedly hated America, and how we shouldn't care that she was bulldozed over.

Hope this helps, gentlemen.

Unfortunately, I think the spin is that we're supposed to be glad, or thankful, that she was killed (because she was this rabid America-hater, or terrorist-supporter, or whatever the projected image is).

Interesting that we don't view ourselves as terrorist-supporters, given the billions that we give to the IDF every year ... but that's another topic for another day I guess.

considering the idf has been discovering tunnels all
over the place, the IDFs claim has some substantial
credibility.

on the loss of your daughter.

Let her rest in peace. Enough is enough.

Palestinian instead of the Israeli army (and make no mistake about it, she was, indeed, deliberately murdered), you wouldn't be saying that "enough was enough and to let her rest in peace", now, would you?

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

answer my question!!!!!:eyes:

That's tough

:shrug:

My, what a mature, thoughtful, reasonable response! Aren't you doing exactly what you claim the "other side" always does, just making a statement then refusing to debate or discuss further? Oh, but I forgot. Since it involves Israel, there can be no debate, because it's ALWAYS RIGHT AND NEVER IN THE WRONG! Got it, now!:crazy:

I said the SAME thing to Resistance and "pro-Palestinian" protesters complained.

I said the SAME thing to two "pro-Israeli" supporters and still you complain.

Get the picture?

You will now understand why I intend to ignore any more of your questions.

You did NOT say the same thing to Resistance as what you said to drdon and meti. I'm not a "pro-Palestinian protester", but I did complain about what you said to Resistance. If it had been the same as what you said to the others, I wouldn't have had anything to say....

So now that's out of the way, how's about answering some questions? ;)


Violet...

Dont answer any questions....it more like a loaded
rapid fire twisting of words. :)

Point out how, and then I'll understand why someone may choose not to answer questions they're asked, but if there's no evidence of that, I think the reasons for non-answers are pretty self-explanatory...

Violet...

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Who's 'everybody'? I haven't met them yet, nor has anyone pointed out how these 'rapid-fire' questions magically change and say something else after they're answered. Of course they won't be able to, because they don't exist....

Well, you do whatever you like. I'm still going to ask whoever I like questions, seeing as how this is a place to DISCUSS the I/P forum, which is a pretty hard thing to do without questions and answers flying about. But until you prove that anyone twists or changes what is said, then any refusal to answer questions would appear to be for another reason entirely, wouldn't you agree?

Violet...

thoughtful of you. Could it be that you don't want to answer any more questions because you're afraid of where the answers might lead? And I've noticed that, if anyone twists words around here, it's those who have the Israel-can-do-no-wrong-and-is-always-right crowd.

People post opinions or whatever they want on it (within the guidelines). You're making it out to be something it isn't. It's not a college course of some sort. I suggest checking out the rest of the DU forums for context. There's no requirement of answering anyone's questions.

Point out where I said someone HAS to answer a question. What was being discussed was the reasons why someone doesn't answer a question, something completely different...

Violet...

"discussions" if that doesn't involve asking and answering questions? You just don't want anyone to ask any questions that might put Israel in the slightest bad light, that's all.

to be answered and scream whenever there is no response from us...

You got it, all right! Notice how the threads talking about anything at all negative that Israel's done are totally ignored by them as well.

wha????

It appears the some here want to make the forum an extension of their college major in international relations, or some such. My interpretation of the purpose of DU (based on past posts by its founders) is to rally support to defeat bush.

If you check the other forums you will see that everything from throw-away statements, simple statements of opinion to occasional serious so-called discussion (and everything in between) takes place. Other topics besides defeating bush are certainly posted on DU but you appear to have an expectation that a more formal and serious discussion has to take place of these other topics.

There is no reason why these other topics, posts and replies cannot be in the mode of the anti-bush posts. and in fact, the anti-Israel people quite often post opinion without any attempt to substantiate it.

Perhaps you should not assume that you can always have a so-called "discussion". If you have questions your are free to ask away, but that doesn't mean anyone has to reply.

I might add, that posters on the i/p forum for whom it is regularly suggested here by some that they don't belong on a so-called "progressive" board, ... are people who fully intend to vote bush out of office and vote for Democratic candidates for other offices. In addition, many here contribute financially towards the election of Democratic candidates, yet it is suggested by some that they don't belong on a so-called "progressive" board.

The question of Israel v. Palestine does not divide on neat left-right lines, and many persons of left and progressive views support the legitimacy of Israel, and recognize the need and right of its government to defend its citizens from attack. We may rely on the moderators to take action when persons who are not of left or progressive views appear here in support of either side of this conflict.

This might come as a shock, but people can be opposed to Israels policies in the Occupied Territories and not be 'anti-Israel'. Do you accuse anyone who criticises the US invasion of Iraq of being 'anti-US'?

I find it amusing that one of the people who quite loudly insists that they're not answering questions based on (insert attack on questioner here) is the same person who loudly insists in other threads that people MUST answer his questions. Maybe you should go give him a stern talking to? ;)


Hey, bet you didn't know this, but I'm majoring in IR. I'd hate to see this place turned into an extension of my major, because I use this place to unwind and for entertainment. I'm positive there's some balance between super-charged intellectual discussion and something so dumbed-down that it makes Sesame Street look intellectually challenging....

Violet...

thank you! I don't know anyone on here who is "anti-Israel", i.e., not wanting Israel to exist at all and believing it has no right to exist, that kind of bullshit. But there are many, many policies of the current government we are against, as well as the current government itself. Because I'm against Shrub and his minions and their policies, does that make me anti-American, against the U.S.? HELL NO! It's the same with Israel.

How many people here are anti-Palestinian? How many people here are against a Palestinian state existing?

For those of you who answer that you're against it, tell us why the right for Israel to exist should be considered more than the right for Palestine to exist.

BTW, I'm neither pro-Israel or anti-Israel. I'm fine with a two state solution. I'm also fine with a bi-national solution (which many Zionists insist is anti-Israeli). I'm just not fine with transferring an entire group away from Israel and the OT.

have as much, if not more, right to their own state as Israel does. I've never been able to figure out why the strident Israel crowd can't understand that.

They DO have as much right to a State, they DON"T have more of a right to their own state. If you have an example of a "pro-Israel" poster claiming that fact I will join you in lambasting them.

But as long as you have that "more right" sense of morality you will read into posts what you think people are saying and not what they are actually saying.

Good, I'm glad to hear that. I'll be looking forward to seeing some posts that would give that impression.

Also glad to hear no one has a problem with the rest of my post.

To have claimed that the posters in this form are 'anti-Israel', it appears to me that there's some belief that if someone opposes the occupation and Israel's policies towards the Palestinians, then they're anti-Israel, and if they support everything Sharon does, they're 'pro-Israel'. As was pointed out to you, no-one here opposes Israel existing as a state, and there's been many posts from people here who have said time and time again they support Israels continued existance. So, I'm wondering why yr looking forward to seeing posts that are very easily found on a quick cruise through the forum...

btw, I addressed yr post. Was there any bit in particular you think people had no problem with? Please don't take a point in a post not being replied to as automatic agreement with what you say. If people were to address every point they disagreed with on every thread, they'd be so busy they wouldn't even have time to take loo-breaks...

Violet...

what you mean by "the anti-Israel people"? I don't think there is any basis for this overly broad generalization, but that is just my opinion.

when you think that your interpretaion of events must stand, despite your having a very shallow knowledge of what transpired.

or for anyone to say for that matter, because she wasn't their daughter, she wasn't your daughter. They have every right to know the full truth and to expect that their own government will help them get to the bottom of their daughter's murder at the hands of a citizen of a country that is supposed to be our ally and to whom we give gazillions of our money every year. And they shouldn't "let it rest" until they do, and until our government quits trying to bury the matter because it involves Israel.

"DrDon & Meti


Let her rest in peace. Enough is enough."

Why did you possibly think I was referring to Mr. & Mrs. Corrie?

Did you see hidden meaning behind my words?

to their murdered daughter - Yes or No.

Dear Mr. & Mrs Corrie,
You have my utmost sympathies on the loss of your daughter. Knowing other parents personally who have lost children in this terrible conflict I know you will miss her every day of your life. I hope in the days ahead God will grant you closure and relief of this terrible burden in your lives.

Yes you have a right to know about your daughter. To that effect you can sign up to be a member at DemocraticUnderground.com and visit the I/P forum. Some of the members claim to know exactly all the circumstances surrounding the loss of your daughter. They also know what was in the minds of all parties present that saddest of days in your life. I'm sure they will willingly share with you their knowledge and expertise because they do so with us on a daily basis.

Sincerely yours,

make that HOURLY basis....otherwise perfect.

The Corries lost their child. I don't want to offend you or attack you, but I have to say it'd be incredibly insensitive for anyone to send them such a suggestion in order to make some point or other in the unending bickering sessions that go on here. And to pretend that the answers they seek can be found on a bulletin board on the internet is plain absurd. The Corries don't need sarcastic stuff from people on the internet who should know better. Gabyspoppy, as a parent, put yrself in their shoes and genuinelly try to feel their loss. Would you in their position want to recieve sarcastic emails like that? I wouldn't. I've always felt terrible for them and hoped that they'd never stumble onto some of the things said on the internet about their daughter...

There's a time and a target for sarcastic jabs at people with differing opinions, and I no more think the Corries should be a target anymore than the parents of an Israeli killed in a suicide bombing should be. A bit of respect for the families of all killed in the conflict wouldn't go astray...


Violet...

a sarcastic letter to a Israeli family that lost their love one in a suicide attack. People would be on fire. Yet when it goes for the ones killed by the IDF or some Israeli bulldozer, anything goes. Very sad indeed...

wow....is that really necessary??


I think it might be instructive for them to
find out what is being said about their daughter....
especially given the importance of this issue AS EVIDENCE
of the seemingly ENDLESS posts about Rachel Corrie.

I'm sure GP can find their address....if he cant, I can.

Did I miss something here? There's some problem with me pointing out that I think an action would be incredibly insensitive *if* someone were to do it? I take it then that you'd also see no insensitivity whatsoever if someone were to send sarcastic emails in a similar vein to the parents of a victim of a suicide bombing? Because I can't see how anyone could think that it's A-OK to do one, but not the other. And I'm not really sure why you think it's so vital that the Corries need to be inflicted with the sorts of disgusting comments I've seen posted about their daughter on the internet....

Tell you what, don. You find that address. That's fine with me. I've said what I think about doing that to families of victims of this conflict and treating them differently depending on whether or not they're child was a victim of one 'side' or another. But I can supply you with the email addy of the father of a teenage suicide bombing victim who I met on a blog last year (and I would have been disgusted if anyone had tried to make some sort of clumsy point-scoring exercise out of his loss). Feel free to send him the same sort of sarcastic comments, okay?

for some humanity! ;)

but the mainstream press sure as hell isn't paying any attention anymore, which means most Americans aren't, either. Now, if it had been an Israeli or American killed by a Palestinian, well, that would be a different story, wouldn't it? Most people I know don't even have a clue who she is or what happened to her. So, you yourself may be bored with the whole subject, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be discussed or brought to the attention of the general public.

believe you or anyone else would actually consider sending such an email to the Corries. I'd like to think that people would be a bit more sensitive. Somehow, I don't think anyone would ever think of sending something like that to the family of an Israeli victim.

Her parents pretty much had to slowly watch what led up to their daughter's death from the outside looking in. That is just horrible.

I do admire that they haven't turned what happened to their daughter into a need for revenge against Israelis or even necessarily their daughter's killer. I also admire their keeping an open mind about what happened to their daughter (although I don't think that my mind is that open about it). It just seems like they're being strong in some areas that many parents wouldn't be strong in.

It's tragic, but she was blocking the destruction of houses. I am convinced that this was an accident, nothing more.

until an investigation is carried out in a relatively unbiased fashion.

I do not trust the ISM to do that, nor do I trust the IDF.

I just don't have that much sympathy for her, if any.

He was talking about how he won't be convinced of anything until a trustworthy investigation into her death happens. He didn't mention anything about having sympathy for her....

But why don't you have any sympathy for her? I've seen people say this before and I find the attitude callous. I don't give a stuff that she was an American, that she was a peace activist trying to stop a house from being demolished, or anything like that. What I do give a stuff about is the horrible way she died and I've got sympathy for her and all killed in the conflict because our compassion as progressives for other human beings shouldn't be turned on and off like a tap depending on whether the person killed is on one 'side' or the other of whatever issue we're discussing...

Violet...

just not the other...

And I'm getting really tired of that. The murdered Israelis aren't the only victims, and they sure as hell aren't the only ones who matter.

ensue if that email were sent to the parents of a suicide bombing victim? Of course, it would never happen, would it?

Rachel Corrie's killing may have been deliberate, or it may have been an accident. I certainly don't know enough about what really happened to say which story is true.

You've got all the facts at hand? I think gabyspoppy and drdon were talking about you a few posts back ;)

Until an investigation is carried out by a trustworthy and independent body, and a real attempt made to find out the facts, no-one knows for sure what happened or can be convinced that they *know* what happened....

Violet...

"no-one knows for sure what happened or can be convinced that they *know* what happened...."

I know some people who would give you an argument about
that.

of houses whose owners and occupants had DONE NOTHING WRONG WHATSOEVER!!!!!!!! Their only "crime" was to live on and make their living off of land that the illegal settlements demanded for their own. Entire villages have been destroyed, its inhabitants left homeless and penniless after the taking of their land, their olive groves and water resources, etc. The home she was "blocking" happened to be the residence of an elderly Palestinian doctor and his family, who had done NOTHING and were not linked in any way with any kind of terrorism or anything like that. Or is it so hard to believe that a Palestinian isn't automatically some kind of terrorist, no matter who it is, old person, child, what have you? And the driver BACKED OVER HER AFTER KNOWING HE HAD RUN OVER HER! That ain't no accident, that is deliberate murder, committed with a bulldozer paid for by us, American taxpayers.

any human who had just accidently run down someone with a bulldozer would be flying out of the cab to try and help.

Guilty conscience?

or proud of killing a young girl because she sympathized with Palestinian suffering

suffering is now considered a crime in Israel. Apparently, any expression of sympathy and compassion for Palestinian victims automatically means that you're against Israel, in some eyes, which is utterly ridiculous, and that you have no sympathy or compassion for Israeli victims, which is equally ridiculous.

that the victims were "terrorist supporting hate mongers" which is supposed to justify murdering them. Amazing isn't it

women and children and elderly and families in the villages being destroyed were all "terrorists" or "terror sympathizers." RIGHT. It appears that Israel uses the same reasoning as our own country does in imprisoning anyone it damn well feels like imprisoning by using the same "terror" terms in order to justify it in the public eye. Sickening!

that terrorism is defined simply as what "they" do to "us"; therefore, it couldn't possibly be what "we" do to "them" (them being the official enemy)

there are about a million past and current examples of that.

.