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Four days before the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, 23-year-old Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer, as she was protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza. The bulldozer was an American vehicle, sold to Israel through a US Department of Defense programme.
A sham Israeli military investigation ruled that Rachel’s death was the result of an accident and dismissed the case. Over two decades later, her parents continue to seek justice.
During a recent interview, Rachel’s father, Craig Corrie, did not mince words in reference to the Israel army’s “self-investigations”. “Israel does not do investigations, they do cover-ups”, he said.
This past week, on a call with prominent Palestine activists, Rachel’s parents sought to comfort the parents of 26-year-old Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, another American killed as she protested illegal Israeli settlements in Nablus. An Israeli sniper shot her in the head.
There are efforts now to cover up Ayşenur’s murder, just as Rachel’s was. On September 9, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel refused to admit that the young American activist was killed by an Israeli sniper, continuing a long legacy of “going to bat” in defence of Israel’s human rights abuses and war crimes, even at the expense of US citizens’ lives.
A day later, an Israeli military statement attempted to absolve the occupation of any purposeful wrongdoing, though it admitted more than Patel was willing to. “It is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by [Israeli army] fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot”, the military said.
Both the Corrie and Eygi families have demanded independent investigations from the US State Department after the murders of their daughters. Those calls have fallen on deaf ears, as US officials maintain Israel is somehow capable of self-accountability.
“It’s not acceptable. It has to change. And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government,” Blinken said in regards to Ayşenur’s murder, deflecting questions about an independent investigation.
The killing of Rachel and Ayşenur was not accidental, just as the killing of over 41,000 Palestinian men, women, and children over the past year is not. They are premeditated, calculated murders, fuelled by dehumanisation, impunity, and a desire to take advantage of turmoil for fast-paced illegal settlement. And Rachel and Ayşenur are not the only American victims of Israel’s terror.
In 2022, Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist, was killed by Israeli snipers in the West Bank. In January this year, 80-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Assad died after an hours-long detention by Israeli soldiers near Ramallah. In April, the Israeli army killed American aid worker Jacob Flickinger along with six other people, who were part of a World Central Kitchen convoy.
In August, a New Jersey teacher was shot in the leg while protesting against illegal Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. His name has been kept secret for his safety. “The money I pay in my taxes as a teacher probably funded the bullet they have run through me”, he told media outlet Zeteo.
Days after Israelis shot the American teacher, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved the sale of an additional $20bn of military equipment to Israel including F-15 jets, $774m worth of tank cartridges, $60m worth of explosive mortar cartridges, and $583m worth of military vehicles.
At the September 9 press briefing, Zeteo’s Prem Thakker asked Patel a pointed question: “How many more Palestinians and how many more Americans killed [and] violated, will it take before this administration actually does announce a policy change?” Patel responded by rambling about the US administration’s failed ceasefire efforts.
The murder of these US citizens should serve as a wake-up call to all Americans: Israel can kill you and your loved ones, and your government will do nothing about it. In fact, your government will adamantly insist that the perpetrator is capable of investigating themselves. All the while, they will continue to finance Israel to the tune of billions of dollars a year, supply it with the weapons and machinery necessary to maintain and expand its occupation, and enact an ongoing genocide.
They will also actively protect Israel from accountability, within its own structures, at international courts and at the United Nations.
Shireen’s plight illustrates this US-guaranteed Israeli impunity so well. Israeli authorities had no shame in not only spitting on the memory of someone like Shireen by denying her justice, but also literally beating the pallbearers carrying her body during her funeral. Last year, Israeli soldiers destroyed the monument honouring her in Jenin.
What was in that coffin wasn’t just Shireens’ body, but all of the US government’s empty slogans and condolences when the blood of a Palestinian-American or an American defending innocent Palestinians is spilled.
But while US officials are eager to protect this deadly status quo, there is an emerging discourse in the country that is scrutinising it and asking why. Why do Blinken, the State Department, and one administration after another play performative politics that ignores the US’s ability to enforce rules and enact punishments on Israel, while bringing down the hammer on other international actors for similar crimes? When do allies become too costly?
Yes, the Zionist lobby plays a vile role in concocting American acquiescence, but the current public discourse spurred largely by the genocide in Gaza – as well as the murder of Americans – will accelerate the answers to these questions over time and ultimately end the Israeli occupation.
I end this piece with a personal request from all who read it: speak about Israel’s war crimes, occupation, illegal settlements, and the genocide in Gaza with your friends and loved ones. Change starts with a good word.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
