Hameed Abdul Karim

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Nobody ever expected the Israeli court to convict or even hold the Israeli army, also known in Orwellian terms as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Israeli Defense ForceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, culpable for the brutal murder of American activist Rachel Corrie in 2003.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But when judge Oded Gershon proclaimed, in the pompous way Israeli judges usually do when passing verdicts on gentiles, that Rachel CorrieƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s death was her fault and that the driver of the Caterpillar bulldozer was in no way responsible since he couldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t see her protesting on his way to demolish yet another Palestinian home in Gaza as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”dutyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ demanded.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The ruling belies the evidence that is out there on the net for the whole world to see. Moving pictures clearly show Rachel Corrie at a safe distance in front of the Caterpillar bulldozer waiving frantically in a hopeless attempt to stop the driver from demolishing the home of a Palestinian family she was staying with. She was wearing an orange jacket and then there were her fellow American activists waiving and screaming at the driver (unnamed and unidentified) to warn him of RachelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s presence right in front of him. So you will have to be a zombie to believe the judge when he said the Israeli army officer couldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t see Rachel. But couldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t he hear the screaming of her fellow activists?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Either he was blind and deaf or he was hell bent on murder. Evidently the latter is true, unless you like to believe Israeli authorities issue driving licenses to deaf and blind army personnel. Besides all this happened in broad daylight.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The thoughts I imagine, that must have crossed Rachel CorrieƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s mind at that point of time really frighten me. Did she think she might succeed in preventing yet another Israeli house demolition?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In any civilised society you would expect the authorities to arrest a person and throw him or her behind bars for obstructing the law. Maybe that was what Rachel Corrie thought might happen to her in a worst case scenario? Until the Caterpillar hit her. Then she could think no more. She was dead.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The ruling crushed the Corries and all Palestinian and their supporters around the world who hoped against hope that something resembling justice might come out of the law suit Rachel CorriesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ parents had filed. Hope springs eternal in the human breast, as the quaint chestnut goes. But lesser mortals must know justice will elude them at every turn when they battle the big guns, in this case the Zionist state of Israel and the US Empire.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Assuming that an American citizen, Jew or gentile, had been killed in, say, Iran or Syria, in the same way Rachel CorrieƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was murdered in Israeli Occupied Palestine, you can picture the consequences and the hoopla that would have spewed out of the empireƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s media. Why, there would be hell to pay. But in this case CNN completely ignored the event in judge GershonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s court and chose, in its place to concentrate on the circus in town which happened to be Mitt RomneyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s antics in Tampa, Florida.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ To add insult to injury, we had Israeli spin doctors telling us Rachel Corrie was in the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”wrong place at the wrong timeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and that she was in a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”war zoneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and more stuff and nonsense of that variety. To begin with there was no war, unless Israeli spin doctors want us to believe that demolishing homes of poor PalestiniansƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”warƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Besides, Israel is at liberty to declare any area of their neighbours as a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”war zoneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ by just dropping a few US made bombs on places of their choice, be it schools or homes or UN offices.

There was this Israeli professor who ranted up the long demolished myth of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”purity of armsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and added for good effect that Israeli army was the most ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”moralƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in the world. Those of us who had seen IsraelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s attack on Gaza and the assault on the peace ship Mavimara on our TV sets know better.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Presently the French have decided to launch a murder investigation into the death of Yasser Arafat after Al-Jazeera exposed that maybe he died of poisoning. His widow is leading the call for a full investigation. It is suspected that polonium was used to murder Yasser Arafat. As the inquiry proceeds, letƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s not be surprised if or when some smarty comes on TV and says his country believes in the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”purity of poisonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚