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Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel (JPPI)
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Jewish Groups Call on Congress to Pass Rachel
Corrie Bill
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| WASHINGTON
- April 2 - Several grassroots Jewish peace organizations today
urged Members of Congress to support the Rachel Corrie Resolution
(H.Con.Res. 111). Rachel Corrie was a 23 year-old American peace
activist who was killed by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozer
while attempting to protect a Palestinian home from demolition
through an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in the Gaza Strip
on March 16.
The Rachel
Corrie Resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives
on March 25 by Brian Baird (WA-3) and currently has 10 cosponsors.
The resolution expresses sympathy to the Corrie family for their
loss, calls for a U.S. investigation into her death, and urges
the United States and Israel to work together to ensure that this
never happens again.
Charles Lenchner,
President of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel, stated that
"according to an Israeli peace group, the Israeli military judge
advocate general has concluded that no charges will be brought
against the bulldozer driver. Therefore it is even more imperative
that the United States conducts a full investigation into Rachel's
death."
According to
Rachael Kamel, an activist with Jewish Mobilization for a Just
Peace, "Rachel Corrie represented the finest tradition of nonviolent
peacemaking. At this time, the international nonviolent peace
forces provide the only protection available to the Palestinian
civilian population. An investigation is needed not only to clarify
the circumstances of her death but also to help Congress and the
American public understand more fully the violence carried out
every day in the Occupied Territories in our name and with our
tax dollars."
Mitchell Plitnick,
Co-Director of A Jewish Voice for Peace adds, "Rachel Corrie was
an American civilian killed during a foreign military operation.
Eyewitnesses have expressed doubt that the incident was accidental.
Under such circumstances, the need for an impartial investigation
to establish the truth of the matter is undeniable."
"The IDF is
treating this death as an accident, in spite of eyewitness reports
and photographs that directly contradict the military account.
Given the historic brutality of the IDF's actions in the Occupied
Territories, a more objective investigation must be carried out
if justice is to be served. " said Sam Miller/Eisenstein, a member
of Jews Against the Occupation.
Hilda Silverman,
of Visions of Peace with Justice in Israel/Palestine and Jewish
Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine, concluded, "Rachel Corrie
was a hero to many of us, as well as to the Israeli peace and
justice activists with whom we work and to the Palestinians for
whom she risked and lost her life. Our hearts go out to her family,
her friends, and her colleagues in the International Solidarity
Movement; and we join the call for an impartial U.S. investigation
of the circumstances of her brutal death."
Participating
organizations include Jewish Mobilization for a Just Peace and
Bubbes and Zaydes for Middle East Peace (Philadelphia), A Jewish
Voice for Peace (San Francisco), Jewish Voices Against the Occupation
(Seattle), Jews Against the Occupation (New York), Jews for Peace
in Palestine and Israel (Washington, DC), Not in My Name (Chicago),
the Tikkun Community, and Visions of Peace with Justice in Israel/Palestine
and Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine (Boston).
###
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