Caterpillar Protest Planned

From: "R.J. Goldman" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.israel
Subject: Who killed Rachel Corrie?
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Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 00:12:18 -0400


March 25, 2003

Who killed Rachel Corrie?


Rachel Corrie, the Olympia, Wash., college student killed trying to protect
a Palestinian house -- a house, remember, not even a human being -- against
an Israeli bulldozer, will probably not merit a footnote in history books.
That's too bad, because her life and death, the way she has been portrayed
in some media, and the reactions of her college are powerful examples of an
America with many morally confused individuals.

A Seattle Times columnist described her as a martyr. Her hometown paper, The
Olympian, published numerous pictures of a sweet-looking woman from
childhood on. It omitted the one photo of Rachel Corrie that USA Today, to
its credit, published -- Corrie screaming anti-American invective while
burning an American flag in Gaza.

Anyone with a heart must extend the deepest condolences to Rachel Corrie's
parents. But anyone with a conscience must regard Rachel Corrie's activities
with contempt. One hopes that it is not asking too much of people to
entertain simultaneously two conflicting emotions -- grief for the parents
and contempt for the daughter.

Rachel Corrie chose to side with a society that breeds some of the cruelest
murderers of innocent people in the world. Rachel Corrie gave her life
trying to protect people whose declared aim is to annihilate another
country. In the name of saving children's lives, Rachel Corrie chose to
defend a society that teaches its young children to blow themselves up and
which deliberately targets children for death. And Rachel Corrie went to
America's enemies to burn her country's flag.

She was one of the many fools our colleges annually produce. Evergreen State
College is reputed to excel in such production. Is anyone aware of a single
student or faculty member who repudiated her activities?

We are told repeatedly that Rachel was idealistic -- as if that matters.
Virtually every person who commits great evil -- the Nazi, the Communist,
the Islamic terrorist -- is idealistic. Idealism is morally neutral. It is
good only when directed to good ends. But in young people, idealism is at
least as likely to lead to bad as to good because few young people are
wise -- and idealism without wisdom is very dangerous.

We are told ad nauseam that Rachel Corrie was a "peace activist." So let it
be said once and for all that most of these people are moral frauds. Why?
Because "peace activists" routinely protest only against peaceful countries.
Has there been one Evergreen State or other "peace activist" in Sudan during
its Islamic government's slaughter and enslavement of millions of blacks?
Are there any "peace activists" in Tibet to protect its unique culture from
being eradicated by the Communist Chinese? Did you notice any "peace
activists" trying to save the millions of North Koreans dying at the hands
of their lunatic government? Of course not. Rachel Corrie and other "peace
activists" only target peace-loving Israel and America.

Why do they do so?

Here is one answer.

The world is filled with evil, and young idealists like Rachel Corrie don't
like it. Which is lovely. But they don't confront real evil because they
know they will get hurt. That's one reason there are no "peace activists" or
"human shields" confronting Islamic terror, North Korean totalitarianism, or
Chinese Communist despotism.

So, what's an idealist to do if she refuses to confront real evil but wants
to feel good about herself? Ironically, confront those who fight real evil.
That's why Rachel Corrie and the millions marching to protect Saddam
Hussein's Iraq have never uttered a peep against Palestinian terror, Iraqi
totalitarianism, or North Korean gulags. Instead, they focus their animosity
at the countries that confront these evils -- the United States and Israel.

So, Olympia, grieve for Rachel Corrie's parents, but spare us the
hagiography. Rachel Corrie died fighting for the International Solidarity
Movement, a Palestinian group dedicated, in its own words, to "armed
struggle" against Israel. She ended up being a useful idiot for, and one
more victim of, Palestinian terror.