Earlier this week I saw some pretty disturbing pictures of Rachel Corrie, an American student and peace activist, who had been literally run over by a bulldozer sanctioned by the Israeli military as she protested against the needless destruction of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The images, though fuzzy and blurred, were undoubtedly powerful, even frightening to look at. Especially since Israel are supposed to be ‘the good guys’.
I’ve learned enough by now to know that such images (some of which can be seen here) never tell the whole story–in fact a number have pointed out some potentially significant discrepencies between photos of the event–so I did some searching and discovered this, a series of e-mails from Rachel to her family in Olympia, Washington published in yesterday’s Guardian (there are additional e-mails archived here), where she gives a vivid account of everyday life in the Palestinian territories.
Somewhat related to this, albeit unintentionally, on Monday night the BBC broadcast a shocking documentary on the plight of Mordechai Vanunu, the whistle-blower who exposed Israel’s secret nuclear weapons program, and his illegal apprehension and treatment at the hands of the Israeli government. As to be expected, the Israeli response was one of indignation.
How much is it going it take for the world to realise the corrupt nature and moral bankruptcy of the Israeli government? The evidence is there. Ariel Sharon and his ilk are right up there with Saddam Hussein in the bad guy stakes.