When I think about Rachel Corrie, today is no different than yesterday, or any other day. Because today, just like yesterday, Rachel Corrie’s beauty, conviction and courage help to carry me through the reports of life in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. And because tomorrow, like today, Rachel will still be dead, murdered.
As you may know, 23-year-old Rachel Corrie was set to graduate from Evergreen College in Olympia, Wash., last spring. But her life was cut short.
On March 16, in the Hi Es Salam area of Rafah refugee camp, in occupied Gaza, Rachel Corrie and seven of her fellow International Solidarity Movement volunteers were hoping to protect the home of a physician and his family from being leveled to the ground. A few hours earlier, the family had learned that their home-like many before, many since and an untold number still to come-was selected for demolition by the Israeli military.
Around 4:30 or 5 p.m., after a few hours of successful protection, Rachel, who was speaking out of a megaphone and wearing bright orange clothing, stood in front of an American-made, armor-fitted Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer at the scene. Eyewitness reports independently confirm that Rachel did nothing to provoke what was to come, and that the Israeli soldier driving the bulldozer knew that Rachel was there. Nevertheless, Rachel was knocked down by the bulldozer.
After being knocked down, Rachel Corrie was run over, without the blade of the machine being raised, and was crushed. The bulldozer then backed up, again running over Rachel’s body. She suffered from broken arms, broken legs and a fractured skull. She soon died. The photographs available through the movement make the internal Israeli investigation conclusion that this was “an accident” ludicrous and shameful.
For weeks, Rachel had been staying with families threatened by home demolition. She was there to use her privileged American citizenship as protection for those who aren’t recognized as citizens-anywhere.
Three days later, a memorial service was held for Rachel in the Rafah refugee camp, at the spot where she was murdered. Armored personnel carriers started appearing during the service, firing tear gas, sound grenades and eventually “warning” bullets.
According to The Guardian newspaper of London, “tensions rose further when a convoy of vehicles, including the bulldozer that killed Ms. Corrie, passed the area.” A friend is quoted as saying, “I think they had been destroying some buildings elsewhere and had to pass by to get back to their base.”
Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash, has demanded an independent investigation from the U.S. State Department, and so has Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. The congressmen are also calling for criminal charges to be brought against Israeli military officials, if warranted.
A U.S. investigation of Rachel’s death is likewise supported by many grassroots organizations, including dozens of progressive Jewish groups, including Jewish Mobilization for a Just Peace, A Jewish Voice for Peace, Jewish Voices Against the Occupation, Jews Against the Occupation, Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel, Not in My Name, the Tikkun Community, Visions of Peace with Justice in Israel/Palestine and Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine, among others.
Amnesty International has also called for an independent investigation of Rachel’s death. Other international human rights organizations demanding justice include: the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization against Torture.
From human rights organizations to government officials, the death of Rachel Corrie is unsettling and leaves troubling questions behind. Citizens around the world mourn for her, and for her work toward achieving peace.
She believed that peace can be achieved between the Palestinians and Israelis, and her non-violent work is an inspiration for peace activists around the world. She witnessed extra-judicial assassinations, collective punishment, torture and other violations of international law and treaty.
And yet, in her e-mails home (I strongly urge anyone interested to visit www.rachelcorrie.org), she expressed love, hope and forgiveness.
Rachel risked her life to protect and defend the powerless, and her strength must be remembered by every college student, activist, worker, citizen and friend of the United States. This is possible, by first recognizing that a beautiful, courageous and convicted person like Rachel, if Palestinian, would be honored differently-in life and death. The death of a Palestinian Rachel-no matter how old, smart, beautiful, strong, peaceful, no matter-would have simply been dismissed by the Israeli military as that of a “suspected militant,” or one of the other labels used to dismiss the significance of what Rabbi Michel Lerner refers to as “Israeli-imposed deaths of Palestinians.” I completely agree with Rabbi Lerner when he says that “as long as the occupation lasts, there will be more and more people crushed under its weight. The best memorial for Rachel Corrie is to end the occupation and accord the Palestinian people the dignity that they deserve.”