National Organizations Launch Open Letter for U.S. Investigation of Israel’s Injuring & Killing of Americans

posted on: Oct 16, 2012

Earlier this week, Cindy and Craig Corrie accepted the prestigious 2012 LennonOno Grant for Peace on behalf of their daughter, Rachel, who was killed by the Israeli military with a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer as she nonviolently attempted to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip in March 2003.

In accepting the award, Cindy stated that Rachel’s “hope would be that it could somehow contribute to bringing people together to work passionately for justice, and to do so with the utmost respect for the rights and lives of all human beings.”

However, nearly ten years after Rachel’s killing, her family still has not received justice. In August 2012, a civil case against the Israeli military filed by the Corrie family concluded with the presiding judge not only absolving the State of Israel of any liability, but also blaming Rachel for her own death. This is unacceptable.

Last month, together with our friends at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a petition to the State Department was launched calling on “the U.S. government to conduct thorough, credible, and transparent investigations into the death of Rachel Corrie and into each case involving the death or serious injury of an American citizen by the Israeli military since 2001.”

Already, we’ve collected more than 9,000 signatures.

<a href=”http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZeXW2gr5Qy6ysDmoCbZyW1rZGOZCgtCs”>Please take a minute to sign it and then share it with your friends through email & social media.</a>

You can also tweet the petition and share it on your Facebook page.

We plan on delivering these petition signatures to the State Department later this month. Be sure that we include your signature by signing today!

In an effort to bolster this effort, ADC has joined the US Campaign, CCR, and others, in launching a similar organizational sign-on letter.

You can read the full-text of the letter here. If you are authorized to endorse the letter on behalf of an organization, then we invite you to do so.

A U.S. investigation into Israel’s killing of Rachel Corrie, along with Israel’s injuring and killing of other Americans, would be the first step toward accountability and justice for these U.S. human rights defenders.

Help ADC and the coalition make this possible by taking action today.