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But I don't really want to write about that conflict. I want to write about a life, and a person, who I did not know - and how she is now being treated in her death. The University of Maryland student newspaper published a cartoon the other day that I found offensive for several reasons - it is insensitive, racist, and mean spirited in the least. I was moved to write a letter to the editor (this was at 4:30 in the morning after waking up from a nightmare, so maybe it is a tad over emotional):

"I am in utter disbelief that a US college newspaper could publish something like the cartoon you have at http://www.inform.umd.edu/News/Diamondback/archives/2003/03/18/cartoon.html
This is the single most insensitive, ignorant, arrogant, racist piece of crap I have ever seen published on a web site.
You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to turn someone's life into a self serving joke. I am sure the creator of this never spent a day in Gaza or a refugee camp. I would expect your paper to print an apology to Rachel's family.
In complete disgust of your lack of judgement and sensitivity,
Anthony Finta, US Virgin Islands"

I sent it to the paper's editor, Jay Parsons, the ombudsman, and several faculty and deans whose email addresses I found on their site. I did receive one response, and that is where the story gets even worse. The response was from the University's legal office:

"Mr. Finta:

Your voice will not be ignored, but it should be directed to those who
actually have something to do with the newspaper. You have emailed those of us
in the University's Legal Office. The UMCP administration (which includes us)
is completely separate and apart from the campus paper. The Diamondback is
a private entity. We have no control over what they print. I send you a
link below to give you the editor's response.

http://www.inform.umd.edu/News/Diamondback/archives/2003/03/19/news0.html

If you have further emails you are encouraged to direct them to the
source of the cartoon, The Diamondback. They deserve to hear from you directly.

Regards,
Laura Anderson Wright"

So I followed the link to the editor's letter. There I was treated to what I felt was a naive and sophomoric attempt to hide bad judgement behind the First Amendment. This prompted another letter to Mr. Parsons:

"Dear Jay,

I am one of the (thousands it seems) people who sent an email to you about the now infamous "cartoon". I emailed you, the ombudsman, and several other addresses I found on your site. I understand that you have been overwhelmed by this issue and it is not feasible for to respond personally. I just want to follow up with you after reading your recent "From The Editor" piece.

In the first paragraph you state:

"we’ve repeatedly begged students to take stands on this generally apathetic campus"

but later in the article say:

"we have largely steered clear of the Middle East conflict, focusing instead on our campus and leaving international issues to the major media"

which to me seems a direct contradiction. I am sorry to say that you can't have it both ways.

I am not going to sit here and try to lecture and sermonize you (okay, maybe a little) - I just have to say that I admire your youth and think that when you look back at this episode in your life you will realize it was a mistake to publish that cartoon. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom of insensitivity, or freedom of irresponsibility. Don't be so quick to hide behind it. Your job as Editor is to make the call - an editor IS a censor - your paper is not a free for all.

Later in the piece you state:

"We do not have the resources to report on Ms. Corrie’s death, and different accounts of what happened make it impossible to determine what is fact unless an impartial government or media organization undertakes an in-depth investigation. "

It takes a certain amount of naivety to even suggest that there could be an "impartial government or media organization... investigation" in occupied Palestine. Remember that journalists are still not allowed in Jenin, that IDF troops shot and killed an unarmed UN worker in his own facility there and then the Israeli government effectively blocked the investigation the UN wanted to conduct.

What happened to this young woman was pure tragedy Jay. She tried to do something to make the world better in a peaceful way - and no matter who is trying to smear her now, no matter if she was a pawn in someone else's game or not - she was killed, brutally. That is not a joke - nor fodder for a cartoon. You shouldn't have published it. It was a mistake. I hope your conscience let's you live with it.

Regards,

Anthony Finta, US Virgin Islands"

I am not expecting an answer. I am not expecting much of anything to happen. There is a real firestorm brewing about the cartoon now and the University Administration is upset. There is even talk of a congressional investigation. But none of that is going to make a difference. We (meaning the US goverment and it's funders - tax paying citizens) are a part of something that has gone terribly wrong in Israel, and to see a young, peace loving, idealistic person torn apart after her death is despicable. My question is simply how can someone make a joke out of something that made me cry? How insensitive, how cynical, how misinformed can a bunch on pimply faced college students be?

Rachel's family published an email she had sent them recently, this is a small excerpt:

"Nevertheless, I think about the fact that no amount of reading, attendance at conferences, documentary viewing and word of mouth could have prepared me for the reality of the situation here. You just can't imagine it unless you see it, and even then you are always well aware that your experience is not at all the reality: what with the difficulties the Israeli Army would face if they shot an unarmed US citizen, and with the fact that I have money to buy water when the army destroys wells, and, of course, the fact that I have the option of leaving. Nobody in my family has been shot, driving in their car, by a rocket launcher from a tower at the end of a major street in my hometown. I have a home. I am allowed to go see the ocean. "

For much more about Rachel do a Google News search on her name.