On the 8th Anniversary of Rachel Corrie's Stand in Gaza
by Craig and Cindy Corrie
On Wednesday, March 16th, we mark
the eighth anniversary of our daughter
Rachel’s stand in Rafah, Gaza,
to protect the right of a Gazan family to be safe and secure in their
home and the rights of all Palestinians to self-determination, freedom,
equality, and security in the same measure as their Israeli neighbors.
Here in Olympia, Washington – our hometown and Rachel’s – our family,
the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, and our community
will mark this anniversary with an event that emphasizes three
components: community-building, education, and action.
Strengthening
community connections was important to Rachel when she lived and worked
here in Olympia, but, also, beyond, as she embraced the world as her
community. As we pursue a more just global community, we must arm
ourselves with solid information and knowledge.
Rachel believed this
profoundly and emphasized in her writing from Gaza the importance of
seeking and communicating the facts and doing so without exaggeration.
And it is not enough for us to think and talk. We must, also, act.
Indeed, it is because of Rachel’s action on March 16, 2003, that we
pause to mark this day.
As we consider where Rachel would want us to focus now, Gaza still
remains high on the list. The UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) reports that the number of weekly civilian injuries in Gaza
was recently higher than it has been for any week since May 2010. The
number includes injuries to five children. During the week of February
20-26, imports from Israel into Gaza were only 36 percent of the average
amount that entered weekly before Israel imposed its blockade of Gaza
in 2007. Exports and movement of people in and out of the Strip remain
severely restricted. Collective punishment of the 1.7 million residents
of Gaza by the Israeli government and military continues. We must,
therefore, continue to focus on improving their situation and ending the
blockade and siege under which they have suffered for so many years.
Rachel would want us to remember the courageous activists whose lives
were claimed this past year in nonviolent actions against Israeli
policies and those who have found themselves in prison because of their
nonviolent resistance. They are American, Palestinian, Turkish, Israeli,
and from elsewhere. We had the privilege recently of meeting Ahmet
Dogan, the father of Furkan Dogan,
the 18-year-old American citizen executed by the Israeli military
aboard the Mavi Marmara in international waters. We spent an evening in
Istanbul with the wives, children, and grandchildren of others struck
down on the same ship. We have followed the stories of Jawaher Abu
Rahma. fatally injured by teargas during protest in the Palestinian village of Bil’in
and of Ahmad Suliman Salem Deeb, the 19-year-old Gazan shot and killed
as he participated in a demonstration against the no-go zone east of
Gaza. We have read of the fishermen and farmers injured and killed while
grazing their sheep and plying the waters just off the shore of Gaza.
We have followed the Israeli court actions against our friends Abdullah Abu Rahma of Bil’in and Jonathan Pollack
of Tel Aviv, imprisoned in Israel because of their leadership and
nonviolent actions to resist Israeli confiscation of land and the
continuing presence of the wall in West Bank villages. With admiration,
we have watched the courageous pursuit of freedom and democracy unfold
and spread throughout the Middle East. We have celebrated the victories
and mourned the losses. In keeping with our memory of Rachel, we are
listening to the voices of young people as they struggle worldwide to
assert their visions for a democratic, free, and peaceful future – in
Gaza, the West Bank, in the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, in
Kabul, Cairo, and beyond. We call on U.S. officials to listen, too. We
ask for them to be consistent and strong in their demands that foreign
governments and militaries be accountable for their actions, that they
respect the right of people to assemble and protest, and that they
respond only nonviolently to such protests.
On March 10, 2010, our family’s civil
lawsuit against the State of Israel and its Ministry of Defense opened in Haifa District Court. In
sessions spread over the course of the past year,
we have heard from four of the internationals who stood with Rachel in
Gaza in 2003 and, also, from state’s witnesses who include the bulldozer
driver, commander, and the lead investigator in the military police
inquiry into Rachel’s case.
The Corrie Family in Haifa
The testimony has often been disturbing. We
have recently learned that the case will resume on April 3rd. Six
state’s witnesses remain to testify, including commanders who were in
charge on March 16, 2003. As our family continues our quest for truth
and accountability for Rachel, we demand it for all the others, as well.
We know that for there ever to be peace, there must be an airing and
resolution of the grievances.
Some of you – in Madison, Wisconsin, Marin County, California, in
Turkey, in the U.K. and elsewhere – have told us that you, too, plan
commemorative events for March 16th
or during the upcoming weeks. Thank you for remembering Rachel with us.
As you do, we hope you will, keep in mind the community-building,
education, and action so important to her. We hope, too, that you will
recall those others who have stood and been struck down, those
imprisoned for their nonviolent action, and those who carry on the work –
and that you will do what you can to support them all. With events this
week and beyond that keep compassion, humility, and love at their core,
together, we will honor Rachel’s commitment and spirit.
With appreciation always and in solidarity with all who pursue justice,
Cindy and Craig Corrie
