{"id":4694,"date":"2020-03-16T20:35:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T02:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lostinaoneacrewood\/?p=4694"},"modified":"2020-03-17T14:53:45","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T20:53:45","slug":"4694","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lostinaoneacrewood\/2020\/03\/16\/4694\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Corrie Remembered on the Day she Died Advocating for Palestinians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"A
Rachel Corrie standing in front of a bulldozer the day before she died.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

I\u2019m reading the e-mails of Rachel Corrie, whom I\u2019m counting among the \u201cordinary radicals\u201d of my series of posts on that theme. A short paragraph in the March 16 entry of Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals<\/em> brought into my world this courageous human being and another way of living humanly. \u00a0\u00a0Rachel Corrie was killed on March 16, 2003, by an Israeli bulldozer on the streets of Rafah in Gaza. She was trying to protect the home of a Palestinian friend. She was 23 years old.<\/p>\n

I have taken the side of Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before. (See this post<\/a>.) In such a long complex history there is no innocent side. One wants to sympathize with Israeli Jews. They are still waiting for security in a state they can justly call Israel. Yet their actions in occupied territories oppress Palestinian people and lengthen conflict. To paraphrase a passage in that earlier post:<\/p>\n

We can neither ignore nor justify Palestinian violence against Israel. But Israel\u2019s actions have violated Palestinian territorial rights, sovereignty, refugee rights, access of natural resources, and freedom of movement. Peace will never result from Israel\u2019s reliance on its huge power advantage to enforce present repressive policies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rachel Corrie<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the age of 10, growing up in Olympia, Washington, Rachel Corrie was already an advocate for social justice. In this video<\/a> she speaks at her school\u2019s \u201cFifth Grade Press Conference on World Hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her teenage years found her touring Russia. It was an experience that, a Guardian article<\/a> says, \u201cturned her from a local activist into one with a global awareness.\u201dAt Evergreen State College in Olympia, Rachel Corrie arranged peace events and got in contact with Olympians for Peace and Solidarity. This Palestinian-led organization challenged Israeli army tactics in the West Bank and Gaza. Her father, speaking after she died, said,<\/p>\n

Rachel was filled with a love and sense of duty to our fellow man, wherever they lived, and she gave her life trying to protect those that could not protect themselves. (BBC News<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

E-mails that Rachel sent home from Rafah in Gaza describe vividly the oppressive conditions in which Palestinians lived under Israeli occupation. They also document the kindness of ordinary Palestinians toward her and other \u201cinternationals.\u201d Their purpose in Gaza was to support Palestinians whose homes were being demolished. Israeli authorities claimed Palestinian homes were providing cover for snipers and concealment for arms-smuggling tunnels. Not so according to human rights groups. They denounced the demolitions as \u201ccollective punishment.\u201d (BBC article)<\/p>\n

March 16, 2003<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The following information comes from the BBC article.<\/p>\n

Rachel had spent nights sleeping at wells to protect them from bulldozers, her mother said later. She assumed that her international status would protect her. A fellow activist described the event of Rachel\u2019s death on March 16, 2003.<\/p>\n

Rachel had climbed a pile of earth in the path of a bulldozer. She was wearing an orange vest.<\/p>\n

The bulldozer went towards her very slowly. She was fully in clear view, straight in front of them.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately she couldn\u2019t keep her grip there and she started to slip down. You could see she was in serious trouble; there was panic in her face as she was turning around.<\/p>\n

All the activists there were screaming, running towards the bulldozer, trying to get them to stop. But they just kept on going,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An internal military investigation concluded within a month of Rachel\u2019s death that Israeli forces were not to blame. The driver had not seen her. She was not run over but \u201cwas struck by a hard object, most probably a slab of concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel\u2019s parents refused to accept the findings and kept pursuing justice. In 2010 a Haifa district court dismissed their civil lawsuit. Rachel\u2019s death, they ruled, was a \u201cregrettable accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years after Rachel\u2019s death the Israeli army left Gaza.<\/p>\n

Rachel\u2019s parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, have organized a non-profit organization in Rachel\u2019s honor. The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice<\/a> aims to:<\/p>\n