bujhee kom
June 22, 2011, 03:01 PM
Al-Furqaan bro's thread on Alice Walker inspired me to open a thread on the American who gave her life away for the rights of the Palestinians! This thread is about Rachel Corrie and who she was and what she did, it is here for all of us BC readers to know about her. May Allah, God bless the beautiful soul of Rachel Corrie in heaven, May God brings justice and bless the Palestinians so they get back a part of their homeland and their human sovereign rights! May God bring peace upon Israel and Palestine and bless the jews, moslems and the christians co-exist in peace, harmony, understanding and love for huma nity. May God bless them all with compassion, respect for others empathy and kindness.
Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bulldozer when she was standing or kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent IDF forces from demolishing the home. The IDF stated that the death was due to the restricted angle of view of the IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozer driver, while ISM eyewitnesses said "there was nothing to obscure the driver's view." A student at The Evergreen State College, she had taken a year off to travel to the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada.
300
Early life
Corrie was born on April 10, 1979, and raised in Olympia, Washington, United States. She was the youngest of the three children of Craig Corrie, an insurance executive, and Cindy Corrie. Cindy describes their family as "average Americans — politically liberal, economically conservative, middle class".
After graduating from Capital High School, Corrie went on to attend The Evergreen State College (TESC), also in Olympia, where she took a number of arts courses. She took one year off from her studies to work as a volunteer in the Washington State Conservation Corps; other volunteer work included making weekly visits to patients with mental disorders for three years. In her senior year, she proposed an independent-study program in which she would travel to Gaza, join protesters from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and initiate a "sister city" project between Olympia and Rafah. Before leaving, she also organized a pen-pal program between kids in Olympia and Rafah.
Activities in the West Bank and Gaza
After flying to Israel on January 22, 2003, Corrie underwent a two-day training course at ISM West Bank headquarters, before heading to Rafah to participate in ISM demonstrations. During her training, Corrie studied tactics of direct action. Basic rules about avoiding harm were given, which a later article on the Corrie incident summarized as: "Wear fluorescent jackets. Don't run. Don't frighten the army. Try to communicate by megaphone. Make your presence known." On January 27, 2003, Corrie and William Hewitt (also from Olympia), traveled to the Erez checkpoint and entered the Gaza Strip.
Corrie with Israeli bulldozers in backgroundWhile in Rafah, Corrie acted as a human shield in an attempt to impede house demolitions carried out by the IDF using armored bulldozers. On Corrie's first night there, she and two other ISM members set up camp inside Block J, often a target for Israeli gunfire. Israeli troops fired bullets over their tent and at the ground a few feet away. Deciding that their presence was provoking the Israeli soldiers, not deterring them, Corrie and her colleagues hurriedly dismantled their tent and left the area.
Qishta, a Palestinian who worked as an interpreter, noted that: "Late January and February was a very crazy time. There were house demolitions taking place all over the border strip and the activists had no time to do anything else." Qishta also stated of the ISM activists: "They were not only brave; they were crazy." The confrontations were not without harm to the activists; a British participant was wounded by shrapnel.
Palestinian militants expressed concern that the "internationals" staying in tents between the Israeli watchtowers and the residential neighborhoods would get caught in crossfire, while other residents were concerned that the young activists might be spies. Corrie worked hard to overcome this suspicion, learning a few words of Arabic, and participating in a mock trial denouncing the "crimes of the Bush Administration." With time, the ISM members were taken into Palestinian family homes, and provided with meals and beds. Even so, in the days before Corrie's death, a letter gained wide circulation in Rafah, casting suspicion again on the ISM members. "Who are they? Why are they here? Who asked them to come here?" it asked. The letter caused the activists to be preoccupied and frustrated, and on the morning of Corrie's death they planned ways to counteract its effects. According to one activist, "We all had a feeling that our role was too passive. We talked about how to engage the Israeli military."
On March 14, 2003, during an interview with the Middle East Broadcasting network, Corrie said:
"I feel like I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive ... Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I'm having dinner with."
Corrie's e-mails from Gaza to her mother
Rachel Corrie sent a series of e-mails to her mother while she was in Gaza, of which four were later published by The Guardian (on page 2, comments and features section, March 18, 2003) and in January 2008 in a memorial book entitled Let Me Stand Alone by W. W. Norton & Company, along with her other collected writings. Yale Professor David Bromwich stated, Rachel left "letters of great interest" and she had studied methods of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King with care. Corrie wrote to her mother, "The vast majority of Palestinians right now, as far as I can tell, are engaged in Gandhian nonviolent resistance." Her letters later formed the basis of the theatre play My Name is Rachel Corrie, and some parts of the letters were also used in the cantata The Skies are Weeping.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Rachel_Corrie_2003_March_16_cropped.jpgCorrie with Israeli bulldozers in background
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Rachel_Corrie_crushed_by_bulldozer.jpgCorrie in the aftermath of the incident
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Rachel_Corrie_memorial_pics.jpgA Palestinian memorial for Corrie In Gaza
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/RachelCorrieSt.jpgThe Ramallah municipality in the Palestine region dedicated a street to Rachel Corrie
300Rachel Corrie memorial vigil at Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC March 18, 2003
300 Craig and Cindy Corrie at an End the Occupation rally, 2007
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/RachelCorrie_peacevigil_large.jpgVigil in Olympia, WA
400
Bibliography
Let Me Stand Alone collected writings and memoirs of Rachel Corrie published in January 2008 by W.W. Norton & Company
My Name is Rachel Corrie, a theatre play drawn from Rachel Corrie's writings and edited by British actor Alan Rickman and Guardian editor Katharine Viner, published by W.W. Norton & Company
Peace under fire Israel/Palestine and the International Solidarity Movement, by Josie Sandercock, Nicholas Blincoe, Radhika Sainath, Marissa McLaughlin, Hussein Khalili, Huwaida Arraf and Ghassan Andoni, Foreword Edward W. Said, by Verso Books, 2004, ISBN 1844675017, 9781844675012, 297 pages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie
Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bulldozer when she was standing or kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent IDF forces from demolishing the home. The IDF stated that the death was due to the restricted angle of view of the IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozer driver, while ISM eyewitnesses said "there was nothing to obscure the driver's view." A student at The Evergreen State College, she had taken a year off to travel to the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada.
300
Early life
Corrie was born on April 10, 1979, and raised in Olympia, Washington, United States. She was the youngest of the three children of Craig Corrie, an insurance executive, and Cindy Corrie. Cindy describes their family as "average Americans — politically liberal, economically conservative, middle class".
After graduating from Capital High School, Corrie went on to attend The Evergreen State College (TESC), also in Olympia, where she took a number of arts courses. She took one year off from her studies to work as a volunteer in the Washington State Conservation Corps; other volunteer work included making weekly visits to patients with mental disorders for three years. In her senior year, she proposed an independent-study program in which she would travel to Gaza, join protesters from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and initiate a "sister city" project between Olympia and Rafah. Before leaving, she also organized a pen-pal program between kids in Olympia and Rafah.
Activities in the West Bank and Gaza
After flying to Israel on January 22, 2003, Corrie underwent a two-day training course at ISM West Bank headquarters, before heading to Rafah to participate in ISM demonstrations. During her training, Corrie studied tactics of direct action. Basic rules about avoiding harm were given, which a later article on the Corrie incident summarized as: "Wear fluorescent jackets. Don't run. Don't frighten the army. Try to communicate by megaphone. Make your presence known." On January 27, 2003, Corrie and William Hewitt (also from Olympia), traveled to the Erez checkpoint and entered the Gaza Strip.
Corrie with Israeli bulldozers in backgroundWhile in Rafah, Corrie acted as a human shield in an attempt to impede house demolitions carried out by the IDF using armored bulldozers. On Corrie's first night there, she and two other ISM members set up camp inside Block J, often a target for Israeli gunfire. Israeli troops fired bullets over their tent and at the ground a few feet away. Deciding that their presence was provoking the Israeli soldiers, not deterring them, Corrie and her colleagues hurriedly dismantled their tent and left the area.
Qishta, a Palestinian who worked as an interpreter, noted that: "Late January and February was a very crazy time. There were house demolitions taking place all over the border strip and the activists had no time to do anything else." Qishta also stated of the ISM activists: "They were not only brave; they were crazy." The confrontations were not without harm to the activists; a British participant was wounded by shrapnel.
Palestinian militants expressed concern that the "internationals" staying in tents between the Israeli watchtowers and the residential neighborhoods would get caught in crossfire, while other residents were concerned that the young activists might be spies. Corrie worked hard to overcome this suspicion, learning a few words of Arabic, and participating in a mock trial denouncing the "crimes of the Bush Administration." With time, the ISM members were taken into Palestinian family homes, and provided with meals and beds. Even so, in the days before Corrie's death, a letter gained wide circulation in Rafah, casting suspicion again on the ISM members. "Who are they? Why are they here? Who asked them to come here?" it asked. The letter caused the activists to be preoccupied and frustrated, and on the morning of Corrie's death they planned ways to counteract its effects. According to one activist, "We all had a feeling that our role was too passive. We talked about how to engage the Israeli military."
On March 14, 2003, during an interview with the Middle East Broadcasting network, Corrie said:
"I feel like I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive ... Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I'm having dinner with."
Corrie's e-mails from Gaza to her mother
Rachel Corrie sent a series of e-mails to her mother while she was in Gaza, of which four were later published by The Guardian (on page 2, comments and features section, March 18, 2003) and in January 2008 in a memorial book entitled Let Me Stand Alone by W. W. Norton & Company, along with her other collected writings. Yale Professor David Bromwich stated, Rachel left "letters of great interest" and she had studied methods of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King with care. Corrie wrote to her mother, "The vast majority of Palestinians right now, as far as I can tell, are engaged in Gandhian nonviolent resistance." Her letters later formed the basis of the theatre play My Name is Rachel Corrie, and some parts of the letters were also used in the cantata The Skies are Weeping.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Rachel_Corrie_2003_March_16_cropped.jpgCorrie with Israeli bulldozers in background
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Rachel_Corrie_crushed_by_bulldozer.jpgCorrie in the aftermath of the incident
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Rachel_Corrie_memorial_pics.jpgA Palestinian memorial for Corrie In Gaza
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/RachelCorrieSt.jpgThe Ramallah municipality in the Palestine region dedicated a street to Rachel Corrie
300Rachel Corrie memorial vigil at Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC March 18, 2003
300 Craig and Cindy Corrie at an End the Occupation rally, 2007
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/RachelCorrie_peacevigil_large.jpgVigil in Olympia, WA
400
Bibliography
Let Me Stand Alone collected writings and memoirs of Rachel Corrie published in January 2008 by W.W. Norton & Company
My Name is Rachel Corrie, a theatre play drawn from Rachel Corrie's writings and edited by British actor Alan Rickman and Guardian editor Katharine Viner, published by W.W. Norton & Company
Peace under fire Israel/Palestine and the International Solidarity Movement, by Josie Sandercock, Nicholas Blincoe, Radhika Sainath, Marissa McLaughlin, Hussein Khalili, Huwaida Arraf and Ghassan Andoni, Foreword Edward W. Said, by Verso Books, 2004, ISBN 1844675017, 9781844675012, 297 pages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie