Peace Activist Calls For Expulsion Of Israeli Embassy

Tuesday March 18, 2003 09:45

by James McKenna

A 23 year old US woman was killed by a bulldozer while trying to protect a >Palestinian home from vengeful destruction by the Israeli army .

Rachel Corey from Washington sat wearing a yellow flourescent jacket in front of a Palestinian home in Rafah, Gaza,
shouting " STOP! STOP!", when the army bulldozer kept advancing. The tank driver did not stop until he had completely buried her , then he reversed back over her body.
Irish Nurse and Peace Activist Mary Kelly said there was outrage in the
International Solidarity Movement, ISM, for whom Rachel had been working in
occupied Palestine as a volunteer.

Ms Kelly who risked her life last May 2002, to take food and medicine into
Palestinians under seige in the Church of Nativity Bethlehem said;

" I hope this activists tragic death will shock people into focussing on the
fact that Palestinian women and children are killed every day, and the world
turns a blind eye. 40,000 Palestinians have been wounded in the past 2
years, 2,500 have been murdered by IDF operations in occupied Palestine".

Ms Kelly ( 50 ) who was deported by the Israelis for her efforts to report
to the outside world on the situation in Bethlehem also commented" With the
war on Iraq so imminent, there is a great need to do something tangible to
protect the Palestinian people. Israel is preparing for a mass expulsion of
the Palestinans, which will be done under cover while the world is so
preoccupied with the war crisis. In the sanitised language of the media, it
will be called "transfer", and will be done with full co- operation from the
US adminiatration."

" The behaviour of the Irish Government is disgraceful" she said.
"After photographs were released about US testing of the new Massive
Ordinance Air Bomb, or Mother Of All Bombs, MOAB, the 21,000 pound new
improved daisy cutter bomb, mothers in maternity hospitals in Iraq opted to
have their babies by caesarian section as they did'nt want to give birth
during the bombing"

"I appeal to Irish mothers to speak out and campaign in the strongest way
re our Governments continued support to the US in this war on innocent Iraqi
women and children.
I appeal to Irish people to protest in the most
vociferous manner at the continued existence of the Israeli Embassy here in Ireland,
with full special protection form the Garda Siochana. Israel is in breach
of at least 64 UN resolutions, and I don't hear any of the Goverment
speaking about that".

Mary Kelly is due in Ennis court again this week awaiting a date for trial after an alleged incident at Shannon airport regarding an attack on a US warplane.

For further info. contact Mary Kelly at 087 9638398, 086 1527923.