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Marla Bennett Article

Last week I posted about an offensive article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, which essentially equated the murder of Marla Bennett in last year's bombing at Hebrew University with the accidental death of Rachel Corrie, an anti-Israel and anti-U.S. militant who was protesting the bulldozing of the home of a terrorist. (Note: The paper appears to have removed the article from its website.)

Apparently many agree that the article was a disgrace, as is evident from the many letters to the editor in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The letters included the following points:

- "Rachel Corrie was trying to protect the vacant home of a known terrorist, where smuggled weapons were hidden so more Israelis could be murdered. If she were truly for peace, she would have helped to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza."

- "Marla Bennett never joined any group intent on fighting the Palestinians, let alone hurt them, whereas Rachel Corrie did choose a group that unequivocally declares its full support to fight the Israelis."

- "From a global perspective, both girls' deaths were tragic, as are all deaths at such a young age. Yet there is a difference when an innocent person dies of a car accident by a drunken driver and when a person dies in a car accident and is the drunken driver."

- "You probably would not take an example of a young woman who was murdered by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2002, and compare it to the death of a young woman that day in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan who was killed by a U.S. soldier while knowingly standing in front of a tank after being warned to move."

- "Perhaps you consider the Sept. 11 suicide terrorists who crashed into our buildings and killed so many innocent Americans as also acting on their beliefs as moral people?"

In the meantime, the writer of the article, Sandi Dolbee responded to my critical e-mail with an apparently form e-mail, as follows:

From: Sandi.Dolbee@uniontrib.com [mailto:Sandi.Dolbee@uniontrib.com]
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 11:07 AM
To: Joseph Schick
Subject: RE:

First, forgive my delay in responding. I've been on vacation. I appreciate your email but I think you misunderstand the story. THe story is not about politics, not about who is right and who is wrong. It is about the loss of two American daughters to two American families. It puts a human face -- or faces -- on what is happening half a world a way.
Meanwhile, please note that I wrote separate items in advance of Marla Bennett's anniversary memorial here and I covered the event as well for a separate story. I just wanted to make you aware of the fullness and fairness with which this story is being covered.
Sandi Dolbee


In fact, it is simply false that the article was not political. First, no article about people killed in the Middle East could be apolitical. Second, while the paper seems to have pulled it from its website, the article included quotes from an Israeli friend of Corrie who agreed with Corrie that the balance of power was unfairly tilted in Israel’s favor. What could be political than that? Finally, the fact that the article refused to differentiate between “who is right and who is wrong” is precisely the problem. Bennett was a student who was killed while having lunch. Corrie was an anti-American and anti-U.S. supporter of terror. It should be recognized that there is a difference between the two.
posted on 7/28/2003