Pro-Palestinian Organization Named After Rachel Corrie

In an exclusive interview with IslamOnline.net, Shapiro said that the organization will start its activities next summer to carry the torch passed by C orrie.

Corrie’s parents urged the supporters of the Palestinian cause worldwide to boycott the U.S. Caterpillar construction company, which razes Palestinian land, demolishes houses and build the separating wall between the West Bank and Israel.

The Israeli prosecution acquitted Saturday the driver of the bulldozer and decided not to accept further indictment slates against him, as a military Israeli spokesman said that the driver “did not see” Corrie.

But an eyewitness told IOL on the ill-fated day that "he (the driver) absolutely knew she was there. She ended up completely underneath it (the bulldozer)".

"The bulldozer started piling dust over her and nearly buried her in half. After that it started hitting her head and limbs with the tip of the bulldozer causing Rachel to sustain serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital," he added.

Shapiro said that Israeli occupation troops denied him access to the Palestinian territories during his visit on Friday, June 27, under the pretext that he "poses a threat to Israel’s security."

On the ISM activities, Shapiro said that the members of the four-year-old movement has reached 1500 after Corrie’s incident, including Italian, Danish, British and Brazilian MPs.

The ISM is a Palestinian-led movement of Palestinian and International activists working to raise awareness of the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to Israeli occupation.

He said one of the most moving incidents in the Palestinian territories over the past few years is the cold-blooded killing of one of his intimate friends at the hands of Israeli soldiers, noting that occupation troops have gunned down four ISM members so far.

Shapiro further said he received death threats more than one time and is being harassed by Zionist bodies and newspapers in the U.S., noting that the U.S. New York Post paper alleged that he belonged to the ousted Taliban movement.

Over the past few months, peace activists paid dearly with their lives for their pro-Palestinian praise-worthy support.

In addition to Corrie, Thomas Hurndall, a 21-year-old British activist, was shot dead in the head by an Israeli soldier on April 11 in Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.