tiN I World
`Heroic Act' Debated
Jewish groups challenge Detroit City Council's support
of activist's Mideast role.
DON COHEN
Special to the Jewish News
W
as Rachel Corrie a hero and a role model
for all Americans? The Detroit City
Council thinks so. Some local Jewish
organizations don't agree.
The Michigan offices of the American Jewish
Committee and Anti-Defamation League issued a
statement saying they are "outraged" that the city
council unanimously adopted a resolution on July 1
dedicated to Corrie, the 23-year-old American uni-
versity student and International Solidarity
Movement activist killed in March 2003 while
attempting to block the path of an Israeli army bull-
dozer in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip.
Cindy and Craig Corrie, Rachel's parents, and
Khaled and Samah Nasrallah, whose home was
allegedly about to be destroyed when Rachel inter-
vened, visited Michigan as part of a 22-city, seven-
state tour of the United States organized by the.
Rebuilding Alliance and the Dearborn-based
Palestine Office.
While in Michigan, the group appeared before the
Detroit City Council's Neighborhood and
Community Services Committee on June 21. It was
scheduled to appear in Livonia, Kalamazoo and
Grand Rapids as well as a private fund-raiser in
West Bloomfield. According to the Alliance, more
than $13,000 was raised in Michigan during the
visit.
The Detroit City Council resolution called Corrie
a "consummate international peace and justice
activist" whose activities are "the epitome of what all
should expect from American values and that is to
stand u43. for what is right, fair, just and decent." It
said Corrie has "served as a potent symbol and
reminder of the Israeli occupation of Palestine," and
called for an independent investigation of her death.
It appeals for contributions to the California-based
Alliance.
The Alliance's Web site says its goals are to rebuild
homes and schools, offer legal defense and provide
"education, information and experiences intended to
reshape American views of the Middle East."
Calling the resolution "one-sided," a statement
signed by AJC Michigan Area Director Sharona
Shapiro and ADL Michigan Regional Director Betsy
Kellman noted that it does not condemn suicide
bombers and terrorism nor express sympathy for loss
of life on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Jewish groups' statement also asked for sup-
port for the peace process: "The ongoing peace
process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
continues to be an arduous journey. Each side has
internal conflicts and is challenged by those with lit-
tle patience who wish to derail the road map."
7/ 7
2005
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While agreeing that Corrie's death
was a tragedy, the statement continues:
"The Detroit City Council has given a
stamp of approval lending credence to
civil disobedience and obstructionist
behavior, and it has allowed those sup-
porting one side of the conflict to use
the resolution and its audience with
Detroit's elected officials to promote
their cause."
The statement admonishes the city
council, saying it is "even more outra-
geous" that it deals with international
issues "when Council members cannot
even reconcile differences among
themselves ..." It urges the city council
to "rethink their use of time, resources
and energy" and concludes by saying:
"Focus on Detroit."
Council Responds
c4
Council President Maryann Mahaffey
responded in a July 1 memo to
Shapiro and Kellman, calling the city
council "a viable, collective force and
voice on national and international
Rachel Corrie was killed while attempting to block the path of of an
events dating back decades," adding
Israeli army bulldozer in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip in March
that the city council would not apolo-
2003.
gize for such activity.
Noting the city council is "keenly aware that there should get involved in international policy issues.
is ferocious debate about the ensuing Palestine/Israel
Oakland County attorney Alan L. Kaufman of
dilemma," Mahaffey's memo maintains that the
West Bloomfield, board chair of the Alliance and a
Corries and Nasrallahs did not visit to discuss that
local Green Party activist, wrote in a July 1 e-mail
issue, but rather the "bond between these two great
that he and the other members of the June 21 dele-
families, their terrible loss as a collective, and how
gation to the city council were "very honored to
they might fund-raise to salvage people's homes in
present to the Detroit City Council and be the
that area of the world."
recipients of their Spirit of Detroit Award. We will
It added, "Through its resolution, the Detroit
continue to work for peace and justice across the
City Council unanimously stated that Rachel Corrie borders."
was a hero and a role model — and not a woman
Neither Kaufman nor other Alliance contacts
`caught up in a cause,'" as the AJC/ADL statement
would comment on a widely distributed photo of an
had claimed.
apparently angry Corrie burning a handmade
Mahaffey's memo ended by inviting more involve- American flag in the middle of a crowd of
Palestinian children.
ment in "the issues that affect the lives of Detroit
citizens every single day."
The Israel Defense Forces' Southern Command
The AJCommittee's Shapiro expressed disappoint- and the Israeli Military Police conducted separate
ment. "President Mahaffey and her fellow city coun- investigations, with both finding Corrie's death an
cil members do not know the long history of the
accident. A Human Rights Watch investigation did
AJC's engagement with the city of Detroit," Shapiro
not find otherwise, but requested more study, say-
said. She cited volunteer activity of AJC board
ing, "The impartiality and professionalism of the
members, holding AJC events in the city and AJC
Israeli investigation into Corrie's death are highly
questionable."
advocacy for health care and education, among
other activities.
In March 2005, the Corries initiated lawsuits
Shapiro said she would have opposed the resolu-
against the State of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces and
tion even if it had taken the exact opposite political
the bulldozer company Caterpillar Inc. The defendants
position, saying she didn't believe the city of Detroit
claim innocence from legal culpability. ❑