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Let’s Finally Do Something About the Bulldozer That Killed My Daughter

Bernie Sanders is trying to end the shipment of US bulldozers to Israel—like the one that crushed my daughter, Rachel Corrie, to death 23 years ago.

A protester waves a picture of US peace activist Rachel Corrie in front of an Israeli tank during a demonstration held at the site where Corrie was killed, on March 18, 2003.

Our daughter, Rachel Corrie, was killed in 2003 in Gaza, while trying to protect a Palestinian home facing illegal destruction by the Israeli military. She was 23 years old. The massive, armored Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer that crushed her was manufactured in the United States. It was the same type of militarized bulldozer that US presidents from George W. Bush through to Donald Trump have delivered to Israel.

Today, Senator Bernie Sanders will force a vote in the Senate to try to end this cycle of death by banning the transfer of D-9 bulldozers to Israel. We hope he will not take this stand alone.

In his final months in office, President Joe Biden blocked the shipment of militarized bulldozers to Israel, finally recognizing the role the machines play in Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian homes. But one of President Trump’s first acts upon taking office was to overturn that decision and resume the transfers. In the months since, Israel has only accelerated its destruction of homes, not just in Gaza but in the West Bank too, and now in its invasion of southern Lebanon.

What does it say about our country’s values when, in violation of international and US law, we continue to use taxpayer money to supply Israel with machines........

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