Rachel Corrie and the “Cycle of Violence”

The verdict from an Israeli judge that Rachel Corrie’s death was  an accident has set off a predictable whirlwind of media coverage. Reading The Guardian’s report, this section stands out:

At the time – the height of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising – house demolitions were common, part of an increasing cycle of violence from both sides. Palestinian suicide bombers were causing death and destruction with terrifying frequency; the Israeli military was using its mighty force and weaponry to crush the uprising.

So, according to The Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood, house demolitions to prevent Palestinian weapons smuggling fall into the same category as blowing up Israeli buses or cafes; Israeli measures to protect its civilian population are of the same moral equivalence as the Palestinian terrorism that deliberately targeted Israeli civilians; the death of Rachel Corrie in a tragic accident no different to the deaths of Israeli victims of terror.

And all of this as part of a “cycle of violence”.