Friday 25 July,
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New
Britain
Marchers want congressional investigation
By BILL LARKIN
, Staff Writer
07/24/2003
NEW BRITAIN -- An activist group
calling for a congressional investigation into the March 16
death of Washington college student Rachel Corrie marched
through the streets of New Britain Wednesday.
A member of the pro-Palestinian
International Solidarity Movement, 23-year-old Corrie was
crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to
prevent a Palestinian doctor’s home from being demolished. The
army said it was destroying the home to prevent suspected drug
trafficking.
Following an internal investigation, the
Israeli army exonerated its bulldozer driver. In a written
statement released June 26, the army said the driver did not
see Corrie and her death was unintentional.
But the 20
members of the Middle East Crisis Committee assembled outside
U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson’s (R-5) office at One Grove Place said
the Israeli army covered up the malfeasance of the driver and
other soldiers who witnessed the incident.
"Though she
was in plain view of the bulldozer operators, wearing a bright
red vest and yelling through a bullhorn, the bulldozer drove
over her and then backed over her," said committee chairman
Stanley Heller, who called the Israeli investigation a
"whitewash." Heller derived his account of events from
international media reports.
Wednesday’s march, which
began on Myrtle Street and ended at Johnson’s downtown
campaign headquarters, was held to force Corrie’s death into
the public arena and to prompt Johnson to explain her
opposition to a resolution that would direct the U.S.
government to investigate the incident, Heller said.
Although "The Rachel Corrie Resolution" has 42
co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives, neither
Johnson nor any of her Connecticut peers have pledged their
support to the resolution, which has stalled in the House
International Relations Committee.
Heller claimed
members of the Middle East Crisis Committee -- a 21-year-old
human rights foundation based in New Haven -- have attempted
to discuss the resolution with Johnson several times, but have
been largely ignored.
However, Johnson spokesman Brian
Schubert said members from the committee never requested a
formal "sit-down" from anyone associated with the
congresswoman’s office. He said Johnson’s policy is to always
make herself available to constituents as soon as
possible.
Regardless, Schubert said, Johnson has no
plans to support the resolution.
"That takes the
country backward and not forward," he said. "We need to follow
the steps delineated in the Road Map (an American document
outlining ways to reduce Arab-Israeli hostilities) in order to
achieve peace."
While the press representative
repeatedly said Corrie’s death was a tragedy, he added it has
already been "fully examined" by officials in the Israeli
army. Schubert called their investigation "credible" and
worthy of the United States’ trust.
Bill Larkin can be
reached at blarkin@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860)
225-4601, ext. 219.
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