Wacko liberal college student goes to mideast and gets nailed with an israeli bulldozer...whats the big deal? Ok, its sad that she died. But it was her choice. The United States does should NOT waste any time investigating this. Sorry, but she was stupid enough to get herself killed, her choice.

Excellent post. You've hit upon the *real* story -- a publicly funded institution has turned itself into an activists' assembly line.

Corrie's parents (and a Washington state Congreessman) have predictably called for an end to financial assistance to Israel. There should be a cut-off of public funds, alright, of Evergreen State's training camp.

Rule #1: Don't put yourself in the way of a rational human, and the hiding place of his people's murderers. She died while attempting to interfere in a military operation outside the home of Palestinian terror suspects in Gaza:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&ncid=736&e=3&u=/ap/20030316/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_protester_killed

http://www.omjp.org/Feb1503GazaReuters.jpg

At 23 years old one is responsible for their own actions, though of course this death is certainly tragic for her family. However, I would suggest that if there are villains in this piece, they include those state-funded "educators" in Olympia, WA (like Steve Niva) who cynically advocate putting young people in harm's way, in support of a dubious cause:

http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=20030111090814119
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=5263

I'd also like to remind you all of another non-Jewish American killed in the Middle East recently. She was 14 years old, her life ended on a bus in Haifa on March 5, 2003. Her name was Avigail Litle.

Her parents identified her remains at the morgue by a bracelet she wore on her ankle. Her legs were the only part of her body that remained intact:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n600

She was murdered, along with 16 others (mostly teenagers) by a suicide bomber from Hebron. The IDF operation in Gaza was meant to prevent this type of atrocity, by demolishing the home of a suicide terrorist.

So now another American young person is dead. I suppose that its so much easier to hear about other people’s children dying, isn’t it? Like these Israeli children that were killed alongside Avigail Litle, targeted by Palestinian militants precisely because they were children:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n640 http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n5t0 http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n5x0 http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n610 http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n600 http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n5y0 http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n5w0 http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n650 etc...

And the children's' parents, of course:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0n5v0
"Motti Hershko had taken his son, Tom, along with him to a job interview to run a workshop promoting peace and preventing violence, and after being unemployed for a long time was given the job. Family members related that financial difficulties had recently forced his father to sell his car, which was why the two were riding the bus. They sat side by side and were killed
together".

Regarding the intent of the bulldozer operator; we will learn more, I'm sure. I know of about a dozen bulldozer/earthmoving equipment fatalities at Washington state worksites in the past 5 years (in fact, I saw one happen at the Seattle Port Authority, Terminal 5; and that occurred under "normal" circumstances). They occurred without the equipment operator having the added worry of people shooting at him from darkened windows, and without having individuals who are actually *trying* to run in front of them. If the driver of this military equipment was acting out of malice, it is likely that the Israeli government will identify him, arrest, try and punish him. (Such self-policing actions are rarely done by the Palestinian Authority, unfortunately). From what I've read though, this young woman was essentially playing a game of chicken in a war zone, and sadly, lost.

I hope that Washington state's decision-makers begin rethinking exactly where they get their opinions about the Middle East. I would recommend this recent National Review assessment as a good starting point:

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-gross031403.asp

A sad but classic case of a useful idiot:
http://www.omjp.org/SustMove.html

You may wish to write to WA legislators who actually pay schemers like Niva to encourage the state's students to put themselves in harms way, and let them know how you feel:

chase_ma@leg.wa.gov
cox_do@leg.wa.gov
eide_tr@leg.wa.gov
elainej@hecb.wa.gov
finkbein_bi@leg.wa.gov
fromhold_bi@leg.wa.gov
gombosky_je@leg.wa.gov
jarrett_fr@leg.wa.gov
kenney_ph@leg.wa.gov
kohl_je@leg.wa.gov
lantz_pa@leg.wa.gov
mcauliff_ro@leg.wa.gov
skinner_ma@leg.wa.gov

You can also contact the so-called "Deans" of Evergreen, the state school at which Niva "teaches":

bantzd@evergreen.edu
foxr@evergreen.edu
lyttlel@evergreen.edu
pougiale@evergreen.edu
pricebc@evergreen.edu
womeldor@evergreen.edu

Steve Niva is why we must have a voucher system (or total privitization) for colleges and universities as well as for preliminary learning. Academic "freedom" means taking money by force from taxpayers to fund traitorous educators. Uncomfortable, sad, but true.
Otherwise we get hung by a rope that we, the taxpayers, funded.

The cold, hard truth:

A beautiful young woman died for a building.... a truly obscene waste of life.

One can only hope that Niva has a long and lasting memory - filled with the horrific realization for his part in this tragedy.

Direct quote from the March 6, 2003 Olympian news artical you site:

"The protesters marched through the Library Building chanting anti-war slogans, arriving outside Purce's office at 1:30 p.m.

After milling around a few minutes, they knocked on Purce's door. He opened it and invited everyone in."

Regardless of opinion and analysis, you undermine your own credibility with factually untrue statements such as "students cornered Evergreen's president". It's interesting that you offer a credible news source link that contradicts your statements in such a way that it suggests the newspaper's story will bolster your statement.

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