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Sedikit info mengenai MV Rachel Corrie....

MV Rachel Corrie - salah satu kapal yang membawa bantuan dan sukarelawan Malaysia...diberi nama sempena aktivis Rachel Corrie

On 30 March 2010, a 1800-tonne vessel was bought at auction in Dundalk, Ireland for €70,000 by the Free Gaza Movement. It was outfitted for use in a voyage to Gaza, named in honour of Rachel Corrie and launched 12 May 2010. It sailed to join a flotilla intended to directly confront Israel’s blockade of Gaza and take in basic supplies. The flotilla was intercepted (see Gaza flotilla raid) however the MV Rachel Corriehad not reached the other ships and continued towards Gaza by itself. Israeli navy officers addressed the ship as "Linda" — the vessel's name before it was renamed for Rachel Corrie. The ship was intercepted by the Israeli navy on Saturday, June 5, 2010, 23 miles off the coast, and diverted to the port of Ashdod. There the cargo was to be inspected and sent over land to Gaza.

Rachel Corrie

Born: April 10, 1979
Murdered: March 16, 2003

 On Sunday March 16, 2003 in Rafah, occupied Gaza, 23 year old American peace activist Rachel Corrie from Olympia, Washington was murdered (crushed to death) by a US-made Israeli bulldozer. As a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, Rachel was in Gaza opposing the bulldozing of Palestinian homes by the Israeli army.

Rachel Corrie (April 10, 1979–March 16, 2003) was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who traveled as an activist to the Gaza Strip during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. She was killed in Rafah when she tried to obstruct an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Caterpillar D9 bulldozer, in an effort to prevent what she believed was a home demolition. The circumstances of her death are disputed: the ISM claims that the bulldozer driver deliberately ran over her twice, while the IDF claims that the bulldozer driver didn't see her and that the cause of death was falling debris pushed over by the bulldozer. Other commentators speculated that the driver failed to see her or expected her to jump out of the way.

ISM and other eyewitness accounts

Joe Carr, an American ISM activist who used the assumed name of Joseph Smith during his time in Gaza, gave the following account in an affidavit recorded and published by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR):

Still wearing her fluorescent jacket, she knelt down at least 15 meters in front of the bulldozer, and began waving her arms and shouting, just as activists had successfully done dozens of times that day... When it got so close that it was moving the earth beneath her, she climbed onto the pile of rubble being pushed by the bulldozer... Her head and upper torso were above the bulldozer’s blade, and the bulldozer driver and co-operator could clearly see her. Despite this, the driver continued forward, which caused her to fall back, out of view of the diver. He continued forward, and she tried to scoot back, but was quickly pulled underneath the bulldozer. We ran towards him, and waved our arms and shouted; one activist with the megaphone. But the bulldozer driver continued forward, until Rachel was all the way underneath the central section of the bulldozer.

On March 18, 2003, only two days after Corrie's death, Joe (Smith) Carr was interviewed by British Channel 4 and The Observer reporter Sandra Jordan for a documentary that was aired June 2003 on Channel 4 titled The Killing Zone.

"It was either a really gross mistake or a really brutal murder"

According to the Seattle Times, "Smith, who witnessed Sunday's incident, said it began when Corrie sat down in front of the bulldozer. He said the driver scooped her up with a pile of earth, dumped her on the ground and ran over her twice."
Smith also observed:

"We were horribly surprised. They had been careful not to hurt us. They'd always stopped before."

British ISM activist Tom Dale, who was standing yards away from Corrie, told journalist Joshua Hammer, Jerusalem bureau chief for Newsweek:

The bulldozer built up earth in front of it... She tried to climb on top of the earth, to avoid being overwhelmed. She climbed to the point where her shoulders were above the top lip of the blade. She was standing on this pile of earth. As the bulldozer continued, she lost her footing, and she turned and fell down this pile of earth. Then it seemed like she got her foot caught under the blade. She was helpless, pushed prostrate, and looked absolutely panicked, with her arms out, and the earth was piling itself over her. The bulldozer continued so that the place where she fell down was directly beneath the cockpit... The whole [incident] took place in about six or seven seconds.

An individual giving the name Richard, who stated that he witnessed Corrie's death, as recorded by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz:

There's no way he didn't see her, since she was practically looking into the cabin. At one stage, he turned around toward the building. The bulldozer kept moving, and she slipped and fell off the plow. But the bulldozer kept moving, the shovel above her. I guess it was about 10 or 15 meters that it dragged her and for some reason didn't stop. We shouted like crazy to the driver through loudspeakers that he should stop, but he just kept going and didn't lift the shovel. Then it stopped and backed up. We ran to Rachel. She was still breathing.

British ISM activist Richard Purssell gave the following account, in an affidavit made in a manner similar to Carr's:

As the bulldozer reached the place where Rachel was standing, she began as many of us did on the day to climb the pile of earth. She reached the top and at this point she must have been clearly visible to the driver, especially as she was still wearing the high visibility jacket ["orange fluorescent... with reflective strips"]. She turned and faced in my direction and began to come back down the pile. The bulldozer continued to move forward at [5-6 mph]. As her feet hit the ground I saw a panicked expression on her face... The pile of earth engulfed her and she was hidden from my view.

tak sangka kan..
tak berperikemanusiaan...
membunuh dan mereka cerita....itulah kerja mereka..
mari la, sama-sama berdoa semoga Palestin akan bebas merdeka...

and sebelum terlupa,
sukarelawan kita semua selamat sampai ke tanah air pukul 7 tadi..
ALHAMDULILLAH..
agak terkilan sebab bantuan tak dapat sampai ke penduduk Gaza..(ceh, gaya macam aku yang jadi sukarelawan)...
tapi yang lebih penting,
semuanya selamat kembali kerana masih ada yang menanti kepulangan mereka di sini...