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Source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/265324_corrieresponse04.html
Idealist Rachel Corrie Was Misled
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer) Gilead Ini - It is understandable that Rachel Corrie's friends and family want to keep her memory alive. But whether Corrie's message deserves to be propagated and celebrated by audiences in theater productions such as "My Name is Rachel Corrie" and "Daughter Courage" is a different story. Corrie was an idealist; but her idealism ended up channeled through the radical International Solidarity Movement, an organization that not only puts at risk the lives of Israeli civilians but also the lives of its members. ISM tells its young followers that Palestinians have the right to armed attacks against Israelis, while at the same time making clear that Israel has no right to protect its citizens. The group's narrative obscures the fact that Palestinian terrorism began even before Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza, that Israel acquired those territories in a war precipitated by neighboring countries openly threatening to destroy the Jewish state, and that Israel repeatedly offered to turn over land to the Palestinians. Hamas, whose charter makes clear that the group's violence against Israeli civilians is rooted in racist ideology and is aimed at destroying Israel, is invisible in the Middle East portrayed by ISM. ISM's simplistic views are more geared toward building hatred against Israel than toward forwarding peace, human rights, or justice. The writer is a senior research analyst with the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).