Death of an Idealist (Rachel Corrie)

American girl killed by Israeli bulldozer whilst trying to stop demolition of Palestinian homes. Rachel Corrie was aged 23 when she was killed by an Israeli Army bulldozer. She had gone to Gaza as part of her senior-year college assignment to connect her home-town with Rafah in a sister cities project. While there, she had engaged with other International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists in efforts to prevent the Israeli army’s demolition of Palestinian houses. According to the Israeli authorities the demolitions were carried out to eliminate weapons-smuggling to human rights groups the demolitions were collective punishment. Less than two months after her arrival,[on March 16, 2003, Corrie was killed during an Israeli military operation after a three-hour confrontation between Israeli soldiers operating two bulldozers and eight ISM activists. The exact nature of her death and the culpability of the bulldozer operator are disputed, with fellow ISM protestors saying tha