By Falah al-Safadi, Yasser al-Banaa, IOL Palestine Correspondents

GAZA CITY, March 19 (IslamOnline.net) - Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old pacifist from Washington D.C. that was crushed under an Israeli bulldozer, went down in history as a paradigm of gallantry, courage and faithfulness. Tributes that became something of a rarity in the days of Arab feebleness.

Fearlessly as she was, she stood up Sunday, March 16, to an Israeli bulldozer, which was on its way to demolish more Palestinian houses. Although clearly visible and speaking with a megaphone, the bulldozer ran over her and buried her underneath.

“She is the first martyr of the International Solidarity Campaign (ISC) with the Palestinian people. However her martyrdom will be whittled away as the world attention is now riveted on the certain U.S.-led war on Iraq.

Fox News interviewed her, but the people there found that they was talking peace not belligerence…they would not air the interview,” Hafez al-Barghouthi, editor-in-chief of the Palestinian Al-Hayat Al-Gadida newspaper mourned her.

This terrible incident, in effect, shed light on the activities of the international protection committees, which came to the Palestinian territories to expose the Israeli practices.

Rachel’s colleagues try to help her after the Israeli bulldozer ran over her body

“The idea (the formation of such committees) was adopted by a conference held in the Italian city of Genoa in June, 2001, where the participants agreed to send delegations from all walks of life under the slogan of the Protection of Palestinian People,” Gabr Weshah, deputy chief of the Palestinian center of human rights told IslamOnline.

“The international pacifists came in droves to the Palestinian territories to take part in the solidarity campaign, which comprises many European countries, particularly Italy, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands,” he added.

Weshah further said the delegations would be an “eyewitness” to the heinous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation troops and the mind-boggling destruction exacted by them.

“They want to have a hands-on experience of what is going there to expose the Israeli practices through mass media, which can pressure the world governments into taking concrete steps,” he said.

Sharon Is The Real Terrorist

Pierre Fanck, a member of the Swiss parliament and the ISC, said “(Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon is the real terrorist…Sharon is the terrorist, no doubt about that.”

“When the campaign comes back home, it will break the international silence and draw the world attention to that part of the world and change the stereotype aired by some media about the Palestinian people,” said Franck.

“We need hours and hours to tell what we saw there,” he added.

Palestinian schoolchildren stand in front of a banner for the U.S. peace activist during a memorial service outside the UN headquarters in Gaza

“We will besiege the Israeli embassies (in our countries) and organize mass rallies nationwide against Israel. If asked why do we prevent the Israeli embassy employees from reaching their offices? We will hit back: To punish them for preventing the Palestinians from reaching their workplaces,” he said.

Fanck said the campaigners will pressure their governments to sever relations with Israel “which brazenly violates the international legitimacy, human rights, the Geneva Fourth Convention.”

“We will ask our governments to impose economic sanctions on Israel given the fact that the Israeli practices are racial discrimination…And we will try hard to put an end to such apartheid that previously had taken place in South Africa,” said Arnou, a school teacher from Spain.

“One of the things which really gripped my attention is the remarkable bravery and steadfastness of the unarmed Palestinian people in their uphill struggle against the Israeli occupation army armed-to-the-teeth with state-of-the-art weaponry,” said Alan Malvetier from France.

The elderly also joined forces. Their old age did not prevent them from playing a role in the solidarity campaign.

“I learnt about the appalling conditions of the Palestinian people…And I insisted on joining this delegation and coming here,” said Albert Jacare, the famed French geologist.

“The delegation and I feel embarrassed at the suffering of the Palestinians and children…Under such circumstances, we came here to keep the world posted on such unprecedented suffering,” said Natali, a 50-year-old lady from France.