{"article":{"id":37137,"heading":"Israeli Forces Break Up Memorial Service For Rachel Corrie","author":"C\/O Diogenes","created":"2003-03-20 06:11:27","modified":"2003-03-21 01:21:44","last_modified":"Fri, 21 Mar 2003 08:21:44","article":"

Activist's memorial service disrupted

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem

Wednesday March 19, 2003

The Guardian

Israeli forces fired teargas and stun grenades yesterday in an attempt to break up a memorial service for Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist killed by an army bulldozer in Gaza on Sunday.

Witnesses including several dozen foreigners and Palestinian supporters say Israeli armoured vehicles tried to disperse the gathering at the spot in Rafah refugee camp where Ms Corrie was crushed to death.

The 23 year-old activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) was trying to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes by the Israelis when she was hit by the bulldozer.

Joe Smith, a young activist from Kansas City, said about 100 people were gathered to lay carnations and erect a small memorial when the first armoured personnel carrier appeared.

\"They started firing teargas and blowing smoke, then they fired sound grenades. After a while it got hectic so we sat down. Then the tank came over and shot in the air,\" he said. \"It scared a lot of Palestinians, especially the shooting made a lot of them run and the teargas freaked people out. But most of us stayed.\"

Another witness said the army failed to break up the service.

\"People were laying carnations at the spot where Rachel was killed when a tank came and fired teargas right on them. Then a core group of the peace activists took an ISM cloth banner to the fence and pinned it up.

\"The tank chased after them trying to stop them with teargas but the wind was against the army,\" she said.

Tensions rose further when a convoy of vehicles, including the bulldozer that killed Ms Corrie, passed the area.

\"I don't think it was deliberate but it was pretty insensitive,\" said Mr Smith.

\"I think they had been destroying some buildings elsewhere and had to pass by to get back to their base.\"

The army said it was investigating the incident. <\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Israeli forces fired teargas and stun grenades yesterday in an attempt to break up a memorial service for Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist killed by an army bulldozer in Gaza on Sunday.","numcomment":7,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/03\/37137.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":37138,"heading":"Pigs...","article":"...just fucking pigs.","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":37137,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-20 06:12:34","modified":"2003-03-20 06:12:34","fileurl":""},{"id":37151,"heading":"Remember.","article":"Fifty years ago, the Jewish peoples were targetted to extermination by a facist regime.\n\nSince that time, they have spoken volumes and erected museums, constantly afraid this opression and massacre would be forgotten.\n\nIt appears while the rest of the world remembers and, to a degree, still sympathizes for the senseless death of so many of their peoples, the Jewish nation themselves are blind to see they now commit the same oppression and criminalities.\n\nPerhaps they are so afraid of again facing this persecution, they have lost the ability to carry the tolerance they so passionately asked the rest of the world for.\n\nWhile not pro-religious myself, I understand their history and have studied it in slight depth. Previously sympathetic, my opinion now gravitates to see this nation, given land others inhabited and worked, as somewhat drunk on their own sense of self-preservation through any means necessary.\n\nIf I was given the opportunity to grow my grain in someone else's field, I should think to endear myself to them and share a community with them in hopes of bettering both our lives and the futures of our children. For even if our fathers had conflict, they wanted better for us than themselves and their wars are not our wars.\n\nIsrael is abusing it's gift and should they push too hard, they will be pushed back in a way US financial support will not be able to counter. A nuclear release will mutate their own children as well as their neighbors.\n\nMy message to Isreal (biting my tongue):\nPeace. Live In It, Or Rest In It.","author":"Nuck","parent_id":37137,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-20 06:42:25","modified":"2003-03-20 06:42:25","fileurl":""},{"id":37171,"heading":"uhh","article":"First of all, the above article is probably a total lie.\r\n\r\nSecondly, Israel can't live in peace while thousands of Hamas terrorists who have sworn to destroy Israel no matter what, "occupation" or no "occupation." still roam free.\r\n\r\nSomeone has to stop them. Arafat can't or won't, so Israel has to.\r\n","author":"hello","parent_id":37137,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-20 08:42:04","modified":"2003-03-20 08:42:04","fileurl":""},{"id":37189,"heading":"Another Apologist for Murder eh?","article":"A. The article is corroborated by multiple sources if you bothered to check. Sadly it is just another instance of Israeli inhumanity and evil.\r\n\r\nB. 1. Hama was created by the Mossad as a Counter Arafat's PLO.\r\n2. Thousands of members? Where's your proof?\r\n\r\n3. So Israel stops terroism by killing children and Peace Workers?","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":37137,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-21 00:51:02","modified":"2003-03-21 00:51:02","fileurl":""},{"id":37193,"heading":"Diogaynes, you gotta die for your Hussein","article":"Diogaynes:\r\n\r\nYa gotta die, gotta die for your government, die for government like Husseins shit.\r\n\r\nBecome a human shield, essay! Die already!","author":"Diogaynes, you gotta die for your Hussein","parent_id":37137,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-21 00:54:53","modified":"2003-03-21 00:54:53","fileurl":""},{"id":37195,"heading":"lets not forget","article":"the first suicide bombing wasnt until 1994 and was a retaliation for quite a brutal attack by an american settler.\r\nwhat was israel's excuse from 67 to 94?","author":"josh","parent_id":37137,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-21 00:56:20","modified":"2003-03-21 00:56:20","fileurl":""},{"id":37220,"heading":"mr","article":"Israel is a state. That's it. It was formed in 1948.\r\n\r\n\r\n","author":"mike garrett","parent_id":37137,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-21 01:21:44","modified":"2003-03-21 01:21:44","fileurl":""}]}