Morning Star Demonises Israel

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/123200

The Communist newspaper Morning Star had the result of the Corrie case on its front page on 29 August. There were at least two prominent untruths which had the effect of demonising Israel. One was from the notoriously anti-Israel hard Left MP Jeremy Corbyn. He said "Rachel Corrie died while trying to defend a wholly innocent Palestinian family against the Israeli Defence Force." The second untruth came from another unltra-left figure, PSC director Sarah Colborne. She said: "Rachel Corrie was deliberately crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer.

Here is my letter to the newspaper. Since they chose not to publish it, I am publishing it here.

Your leader (29 August) on Rachel Corrie is chockful of untruths. Corrie could not have been “attempting to prevent the destruction of a Palestinian home” since the Israeli military operation that day was confined to exposing the ground in a section of the Philadelphi Corridor, in order to expose hiding places exploited by terrorists, who used them inter alia to plant explosive devices. From the start of the Intifada in September 2000 until 16 March 2003 (the date of the accident), nearly 6, 000 grenades had been thrown at IDF soldiers in the Philadelphi Corridor, there were 1,400 attempted sniper attacks, 150 explosives devices had been planted and 40 mortar bombs launched. In addition there were continuous attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers and as a result many Israelis had been killed or injured. Furthermore, the Philapdelphi Corridor was the centre of smuggling activities, with numerous tunnels used to bring terrorists and weapons from Rafah into Gaza . Corrie could not have been “in clear view” of the bulldozer driver since when the bulldozer pushed the heap of debris that regrettably killed Corrie, she was kneeling on the ground and was in the “blind spot” of the bulldozer driver’s field of vision, behind the bulldozer's shovel and the pile of debris. Even the expert who testified on behalf of the Corrie family agreed that the driver could not and did not see her.

You quoted Jeremy Corbyn MP as saying that Corrie has been denied Justice. On the contrary - the verdict came at the end of a long and involved case where many witnesses and experts testified. The fact that is was not the verdict that the vilifiers of Israel wanted does not mean that due process of law was violated.
As well as incorrectly saying that Corrie was trying to protect a Palestinian home, Sarah Colborne said that Corrie was “deliberately” crushed. If the driver could not see Corrie even the most dedicated vilifier cannot claim with any credibility that it was “deliberate”.