Boim murder was tragic, but Corrie murder is even worse
David Boim and Rachel Corrie were born only months apart, but their cases couldn’t be more distinct when it comes to the issues of justice, fairness and righteousness. Boim, a 17 year old with dual American and Israeli citizenship, was killed by Hamas militants in 1996 as he stood at a bus stop at an illegal Israeli settlement near Ramallah. Corrie was killed in 2003 by Israeli soldiers violating the rights of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. Boim has received massive support in America while Corrie’s case has been ignored
By Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
No story has moved me more than the murder of Rachel Corrie, a young American who went to Palestine to stand up for the civil rights of Palestinian civilians.
Corrie’s struggle was the struggle of righteousness embraced by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Abraham Lincoln and other great Americans who believe that justice should be blind and not influenced by the color of a person’s skin, their beliefs or by their religion.
She died when an Israeli soldier crushed her with his Peoria-based Caterpillar-made Tractor on March 16, 2003. Her parents were forced to wage an impossible uphill battle for her justice, even though she was an American citizen murdered by the heavily armed military of a foreign country.
David Boim’s case is also a tragedy, but one that has been celebrated in America as a political fight to suppress the rights of Palestinians. Boim was murdered as he stood at a bus stop on May 13, 1996 by Hamas terrorists fighting against Israel’s military occupation and oppression of their people. It’s not that they hate Jews but that Jews have taken their homes and lands and oppressed their people int he name of a foreign country.
Rachel Corrie
Boim’s parents sued in the US Courts against American Palestinian organizations they asserted supported Hamas. Although the groups targeted had nothing directly to do with the murder of the young man, Boim, the U.S. Court system, which is biased against Arabs and Muslims and influenced by thwarted justice corrupted by partisan and unjust American politicians, ruled that those American Palestinian groups were complicit and ordered to pay $56 million in punitive damages to Boim’s parents.
But the Federal judge in the case didn’t think that was enough and he tripled the fines to $156 million, reflecting the true moral corruption of the American Justice system.
In contrast, the Corrie’s tried to take their case to the American courts but they were rebuffed. And when they went to Israel’s court system, at great effort and expense, they were rebuffed there, too.
No cases showcase the bias of the American judicial system which is corrupt to the core when it comes to Israel, Palestine, Arabs, Muslims and anyone who criticizes Israel.
We have seen outrageously racist laws in some 21 American states, laws that violate the Constitutional rights of Americans by punishing them for daring to criticize a foreign country.
You can read more about this topic in my column in the Arab News this week.
Click here to read the column.
Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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