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Rachel Corrie: On the Anniversary of a Death
There is a quiet battle going on for the memory of a young woman who could have been my daughter, or perhaps yours.
Cindy Corrie holds a placard with an image of Rachel during an 18 March 2003 vigil.
---
On one side are those who would like to erase her from history - her actions, her beliefs, her murder. If they are unsuccessful at that, they will settle for posthumous slurs on her character, falsifications of her death.
On the other side are those who feel her shining principles should be praised, her courage honored, her death grieved. On this side are those who believe that heroism is noble, bravery admirable, and compassion for others the most fundamental form of morality.
To those of us on this side, Rachel Corrie will never be forgotten. She was 23 when she was killed.
We won't forget her young idealism, her sweet bravery, her needless death. And we won't forget her beliefs, the third of which killed her: that good would triumph, that justice would prevail, that Israel would not kill her.
She was wrong on that last one. On March 16, 2003, two Israeli soldiers drove a house-crushing bulldozer over her - twice - crushing her into the Gaza dirt. With five other nonviolent human rights defenders, Rachel had been sitting in front of a family home in Palestine, pleading with Israeli soldiers not to demolish it. They didn't (until later); they demolished her instead.
Her friends ran to her screaming. They dug her out of the dirt. One told me that Rachel's eyes were open; her last words were, "My back is broken."
Far more, of course, was broken. The day was broken, the universe was broken, her sister's world was broken, her brother's life was broken, her parents' hearts were broken. All the things were broken that break when someone is killed.
In the past five years, thousands of Palestinian lives, days, worlds have been broken; hundreds of Israeli ones. We hear about the Israeli tragedies; we rarely hear about the many times more Palestinian ones - the mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters and brothers who are killed and mutilated during all those wonderful periods of "relative calm" our news media lie to us about.
I wonder if we'll hear about Rachel Corrie on March 16th, the second anniversary of her death. Israel, as with all those it kills, claims that her death "was an accident" or "was necessary for security" or that "she was a terrorist" or that "she was protecting terrorists..." As fast as these Israeli fabrications are refuted, new ones are produced. Never mind that they're self-contradictory - our complicit media never question. What Israel says, our media repeat. What Israel demands, our government gives. What Israel wants, its well-greased lobby delivers.
Change is coming, however, and it is gathering momentum. People across the United States remember Rachel, and grieve her death. While Congress is intimidated into denying her parents' right to an investigation of the American "ally" who murdered their daughter, people in towns throughout the US are planning commemorations - and future actions.
From across the country, slowly but steadily, there is the start of an American uprising. One by one, people are rising up - community by community and town by town. We are deathly tired of gratuitous cruelty and rapacious creeds of violence, and we won't stand by any longer.
We are reclaiming our nation, our principles, and our souls. We are the only ones who can do it.
We won't forget Rachel.
And we won't be stopped.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3690.shtml
---
On one side are those who would like to erase her from history - her actions, her beliefs, her murder. If they are unsuccessful at that, they will settle for posthumous slurs on her character, falsifications of her death.
On the other side are those who feel her shining principles should be praised, her courage honored, her death grieved. On this side are those who believe that heroism is noble, bravery admirable, and compassion for others the most fundamental form of morality.
To those of us on this side, Rachel Corrie will never be forgotten. She was 23 when she was killed.
We won't forget her young idealism, her sweet bravery, her needless death. And we won't forget her beliefs, the third of which killed her: that good would triumph, that justice would prevail, that Israel would not kill her.
She was wrong on that last one. On March 16, 2003, two Israeli soldiers drove a house-crushing bulldozer over her - twice - crushing her into the Gaza dirt. With five other nonviolent human rights defenders, Rachel had been sitting in front of a family home in Palestine, pleading with Israeli soldiers not to demolish it. They didn't (until later); they demolished her instead.
Her friends ran to her screaming. They dug her out of the dirt. One told me that Rachel's eyes were open; her last words were, "My back is broken."
Far more, of course, was broken. The day was broken, the universe was broken, her sister's world was broken, her brother's life was broken, her parents' hearts were broken. All the things were broken that break when someone is killed.
In the past five years, thousands of Palestinian lives, days, worlds have been broken; hundreds of Israeli ones. We hear about the Israeli tragedies; we rarely hear about the many times more Palestinian ones - the mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters and brothers who are killed and mutilated during all those wonderful periods of "relative calm" our news media lie to us about.
I wonder if we'll hear about Rachel Corrie on March 16th, the second anniversary of her death. Israel, as with all those it kills, claims that her death "was an accident" or "was necessary for security" or that "she was a terrorist" or that "she was protecting terrorists..." As fast as these Israeli fabrications are refuted, new ones are produced. Never mind that they're self-contradictory - our complicit media never question. What Israel says, our media repeat. What Israel demands, our government gives. What Israel wants, its well-greased lobby delivers.
Change is coming, however, and it is gathering momentum. People across the United States remember Rachel, and grieve her death. While Congress is intimidated into denying her parents' right to an investigation of the American "ally" who murdered their daughter, people in towns throughout the US are planning commemorations - and future actions.
From across the country, slowly but steadily, there is the start of an American uprising. One by one, people are rising up - community by community and town by town. We are deathly tired of gratuitous cruelty and rapacious creeds of violence, and we won't stand by any longer.
We are reclaiming our nation, our principles, and our souls. We are the only ones who can do it.
We won't forget Rachel.
And we won't be stopped.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3690.shtml
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What would induce a young woman to leave her small American town to fight for the rights of a group of people she hardly knew?
In My Name is Rachel Corrie - the story of the life, and death, of a 23-year-old peace activist in Gaza - we find out.
On 16 March 2003, Corrie's life came to an abrupt end when she was crushed by an Israeli Army bulldozer while trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian building in the Rafah refugee camp.
She left behind a series of diaries, written from when she was 12 right up to her life as a student activist, as well as emails from her time in Gaza.
It is these that form the basis of the play, which is directed by Alan Rickman and currently being staged at London's Royal Court theatre.
From the opening of the play - with Corrie lying on her bed, looking back at the roots of her desire to become an activist - to her experiences of conflict-ridden Gaza, we see the real person behind the activist.
We hear of her attempts to win back an old boyfriend, her contrasting feelings of love and frustration towards her parents, her messiness and incessant list-making and even the irony of watching Pet Sematary on TV in a house which had bullet holes in the walls.
Her diary also gives an insight into the ordinary lives of Palestinians who are constantly fearful that their homes will be destroyed by Israeli tanks.
She recorded the endless wait at Israeli checkpoints and the bravery of those who insisted on improving their bullet-ridden surroundings, as well as the little things - a local woman's concern when she became ill with flu and the glow-in-the-dark stickers in a teenager's bedroom.
The play revolves around one person and therefore only needs one voice, that of Corrie herself, played magnificently by Megan Dodds.
She manages to convey both the youthful exuberance and the outrage at the world's injustices that characterised Corrie's life.
The set, designed by Hildegard Bechtler, seamlessly switches from a bedroom in Olympia, Washington, to a bullet-ridden Palestinian home, via an internet café.
But what stands out above everything is Corrie's character - her hopes and fears, her insecurities at being in such a dangerous place and her unquenchable conviction that there was something she could do to help.
'Exceptionally brave'
This play does not attempt to turn Corrie into a saint. Indeed in her early years, she sometimes comes across as being precocious - even downright arrogant at times - a fact she freely admitted in later life.
But it does leave you feeling that this was an exceptionally brave young woman. Many people want to make the world a better place, but few struggle so single-mindedly to achieve it.
My Name is Rachel Corrie is undoubtedly controversial, as is almost any form of art based on the politics of the Middle East.
Don't expect an unbiased view of the conflict - this is one young woman's view of the situation, and what she saw was intense suffering and tragedy among the Palestinian community in southern Gaza.
But what the play does give is a uniquely personal account of the short life of someone who felt driven to help the oppressed - a quest that took her to a land far from home, into a dispute she knew little about.
Rachel Corrie may have died more that two years ago, but this play looks set to keep her legacy alive for many years to come.
My Name is Rachel Corrie is at London's Royal Court theatre until 30 April.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4455549.stm
In My Name is Rachel Corrie - the story of the life, and death, of a 23-year-old peace activist in Gaza - we find out.
On 16 March 2003, Corrie's life came to an abrupt end when she was crushed by an Israeli Army bulldozer while trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian building in the Rafah refugee camp.
She left behind a series of diaries, written from when she was 12 right up to her life as a student activist, as well as emails from her time in Gaza.
It is these that form the basis of the play, which is directed by Alan Rickman and currently being staged at London's Royal Court theatre.
From the opening of the play - with Corrie lying on her bed, looking back at the roots of her desire to become an activist - to her experiences of conflict-ridden Gaza, we see the real person behind the activist.
We hear of her attempts to win back an old boyfriend, her contrasting feelings of love and frustration towards her parents, her messiness and incessant list-making and even the irony of watching Pet Sematary on TV in a house which had bullet holes in the walls.
Her diary also gives an insight into the ordinary lives of Palestinians who are constantly fearful that their homes will be destroyed by Israeli tanks.
She recorded the endless wait at Israeli checkpoints and the bravery of those who insisted on improving their bullet-ridden surroundings, as well as the little things - a local woman's concern when she became ill with flu and the glow-in-the-dark stickers in a teenager's bedroom.
The play revolves around one person and therefore only needs one voice, that of Corrie herself, played magnificently by Megan Dodds.
She manages to convey both the youthful exuberance and the outrage at the world's injustices that characterised Corrie's life.
The set, designed by Hildegard Bechtler, seamlessly switches from a bedroom in Olympia, Washington, to a bullet-ridden Palestinian home, via an internet café.
But what stands out above everything is Corrie's character - her hopes and fears, her insecurities at being in such a dangerous place and her unquenchable conviction that there was something she could do to help.
'Exceptionally brave'
This play does not attempt to turn Corrie into a saint. Indeed in her early years, she sometimes comes across as being precocious - even downright arrogant at times - a fact she freely admitted in later life.
But it does leave you feeling that this was an exceptionally brave young woman. Many people want to make the world a better place, but few struggle so single-mindedly to achieve it.
My Name is Rachel Corrie is undoubtedly controversial, as is almost any form of art based on the politics of the Middle East.
Don't expect an unbiased view of the conflict - this is one young woman's view of the situation, and what she saw was intense suffering and tragedy among the Palestinian community in southern Gaza.
But what the play does give is a uniquely personal account of the short life of someone who felt driven to help the oppressed - a quest that took her to a land far from home, into a dispute she knew little about.
Rachel Corrie may have died more that two years ago, but this play looks set to keep her legacy alive for many years to come.
My Name is Rachel Corrie is at London's Royal Court theatre until 30 April.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4455549.stm
94 comments!!!
>>>"What would induce a young woman to leave her small American town to fight for the rights of a group of people she hardly knew?"<<<
Probably a perception of justice that happened to overlap with an agenda that was just as much and probably more anti-Israel than pro-Palestinian.
>>>"Corrie's life came to an abrupt end when she was crushed by an Israeli Army bulldozer while trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian building in the Rafah refugee camp. "<<<
No mention of the weapons smuggling tunnel that ended beneath that "building". Just a portrayal of an allegedly innocent building being "defended". No wonder people too lazy or without inclination to double check this "info" fall for it and fume against Israel.
>>>"From the opening of the play - with Corrie lying on her bed, looking back at the roots of her desire to become an activist - to her experiences of conflict-ridden Gaza, we see the real person behind the activist."<<<
Her anti-Israeli activism did consist much of her persona.
>>>"Her diary also gives an insight into the ordinary lives of Palestinians who are constantly fearful that their homes will be destroyed by Israeli tanks. "<<<
Let it be stated for the record that she was hardly an objective observer. Not much credence should be given to these accounts. They should be taken with a huge grain of salt.
>>>"She recorded the endless wait at Israeli checkpoints and the bravery of those who insisted on improving their bullet-ridden surroundings, as well as the little things - a local woman's concern when she became ill with flu and the glow-in-the-dark stickers in a teenager's bedroom."<<<
Despite her pretense at being a real peace activist, it's unlikely she recorded any of the hardships suffered by Israelis due to Palestinian terror.
>>>"But what stands out above everything is Corrie's character - her hopes and fears, her insecurities at being in such a dangerous place and her unquenchable conviction that there was something she could do to help."<<<
But she wasn't there to help both sides get closer to peace. This much is obvious. Neither was she present to help anyone on the Israeli side of the divide.
>>>"But it does leave you feeling that this was an exceptionally brave young woman. Many people want to make the world a better place, but few struggle so single-mindedly to achieve it."<<<
Going about it by disrupting anti-terror activities and playing chicken with a D-9 dozer must be some of the most senseless ways to try to better the world, especially when one takes these routes on behalf of only one side to the conflict, and the aggressor at that.
>>>"Don't expect an unbiased view of the conflict - this is one young woman's view of the situation, and what she saw was intense suffering and tragedy among the Palestinian community in southern Gaza."<<<
One must wonder whether she ever realized most of the suffering was caused by the terror organizations themselves, the very groups she tried to assist, even if only indirectly.
>>>"But what the play does give is a uniquely personal account of the short life of someone who felt driven to help the oppressed - a quest that took her to a land far from home, into a dispute she knew little about."<<<
Indeed she knew little about it. This was compounded by her skewed viewpoint that the Palestinians were being oppressed by Israel rather than the PA and the terror groups.
Probably a perception of justice that happened to overlap with an agenda that was just as much and probably more anti-Israel than pro-Palestinian.
>>>"Corrie's life came to an abrupt end when she was crushed by an Israeli Army bulldozer while trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian building in the Rafah refugee camp. "<<<
No mention of the weapons smuggling tunnel that ended beneath that "building". Just a portrayal of an allegedly innocent building being "defended". No wonder people too lazy or without inclination to double check this "info" fall for it and fume against Israel.
>>>"From the opening of the play - with Corrie lying on her bed, looking back at the roots of her desire to become an activist - to her experiences of conflict-ridden Gaza, we see the real person behind the activist."<<<
Her anti-Israeli activism did consist much of her persona.
>>>"Her diary also gives an insight into the ordinary lives of Palestinians who are constantly fearful that their homes will be destroyed by Israeli tanks. "<<<
Let it be stated for the record that she was hardly an objective observer. Not much credence should be given to these accounts. They should be taken with a huge grain of salt.
>>>"She recorded the endless wait at Israeli checkpoints and the bravery of those who insisted on improving their bullet-ridden surroundings, as well as the little things - a local woman's concern when she became ill with flu and the glow-in-the-dark stickers in a teenager's bedroom."<<<
Despite her pretense at being a real peace activist, it's unlikely she recorded any of the hardships suffered by Israelis due to Palestinian terror.
>>>"But what stands out above everything is Corrie's character - her hopes and fears, her insecurities at being in such a dangerous place and her unquenchable conviction that there was something she could do to help."<<<
But she wasn't there to help both sides get closer to peace. This much is obvious. Neither was she present to help anyone on the Israeli side of the divide.
>>>"But it does leave you feeling that this was an exceptionally brave young woman. Many people want to make the world a better place, but few struggle so single-mindedly to achieve it."<<<
Going about it by disrupting anti-terror activities and playing chicken with a D-9 dozer must be some of the most senseless ways to try to better the world, especially when one takes these routes on behalf of only one side to the conflict, and the aggressor at that.
>>>"Don't expect an unbiased view of the conflict - this is one young woman's view of the situation, and what she saw was intense suffering and tragedy among the Palestinian community in southern Gaza."<<<
One must wonder whether she ever realized most of the suffering was caused by the terror organizations themselves, the very groups she tried to assist, even if only indirectly.
>>>"But what the play does give is a uniquely personal account of the short life of someone who felt driven to help the oppressed - a quest that took her to a land far from home, into a dispute she knew little about."<<<
Indeed she knew little about it. This was compounded by her skewed viewpoint that the Palestinians were being oppressed by Israel rather than the PA and the terror groups.
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