Israel vs Palestine: Rachel Corrie, a Western Victim of Zionism

Had she not been murdered in Gaza by the IDF Israeli Occupation Forces on March 13, 2003, today Rachel Corrie would have been 43 years old.

Born on April 10, 1979, in Olympia, Washington, USA, Rachel Corrie, a liberal arts major, a peace activist, and a human rights volunteer/observer was brutally murdered by IDF (Israeli Occupation Army) in Gaza on March 16, 2003.

A graduate of The Evergreen State College, Rachel’s brief life will go down in the annals of history as an exemplary testament to that rare human spirit of preached and lived by Jesus Christ, the Jewish born Palestinian who preached  sacrifice, altruism, loving one’s neighbor,  standing up for injustice, sharing one’s resources, and  giving up one’s life in defense of the dispossessed, the weak, and the oppressed.

Rachel was killed [at the age of 24] on March 16, 2003, in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, when she was crushed to death under an armored Caterpillar D-9R bulldozer operated by members of Israeli amoral Army.

Attempts to seek justice in Israeli and American courts (Caterpillar) did not go anywhere. Further, American politicians, including Washington State Congressmen, did, as they usually do when it comes to Israeli criminal behavior, swept the matter under the rug.

Alaska composer Philip Munger wrote a cantata  (The Skies are Weeping) in 2004 to honor Rachel’s memory. The performance was scheduled for an April 27, 2004 presentation at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  “After objections to the upcoming performance were received, including from members of the Jewish community, a forum was held co-chaired by Munger and a local rabbi who claimed the work ‘romanticized terrorism.’

How tragic it is that any and all supporters of Palestinian rights are labelled terrorists?   And, “after the forum ‘disintegrate[d]’, Munger announced, ‘I cannot subject 16 students … to any possibility of physical harm or to the type of character assassination some of us are already undergoing. Hence, ‘Performance of The Skies are Weeping at this time and place is withdrawn for the safety of the student performers.’” And later “Munger related that he had received threatening e-mails whose content he considered was [just] ‘short of what you’d take to the troopers’, and that some of his students had received similar communications. The cantata was eventually performed at the Hackney Empire theatre in London, premiering on November 1, 2005.” (Anchorage Daily News)

Other tributes to Rachel Corrie included My Name is Rachel Corrie, a play based on Rachel’s diary of her life In Gaza. The play was presented in London with  scheduled follow up performances in New York. As usual, politics interfered and the play was postponed indefinitely, a decision denounced by the British producers.  Singer Billy Bragg wrote The Lonesome Death of Rachel Corrie, a song styled after Bob Dylan’s The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll. In early 2005, My Name is Rachel Corrie, a play composed from Corrie’s journals and emails from Gaza and compiled by actor Alan Rickman and journalist Katharine Viner, in a production directed by Rickman, was presented in London. The play was to be transferred to the New York Theatre Workshop, but when it was postponed indefinitely, the British producers denounced the decision as censorship and withdrew the show.  It finally opened Off-Broadway on October 15, 2006, for an initial run of 48 performances. In the same year, My Name is Rachel Corrie was shown at the Pleasance theatre as part of the Edinburgh (Fringe) Festival. The play has also been published as a  paperback, and performed in ten countries, including Israel. (Rachel Foundation for Peace and Justice).

Since 2004 there have been three deadly Israeli assaults on Gaza, each one more brutal and heinous than the previous ones. And, while the world has condemned Putin’s assault on Ukraine, precious little has been uttered about the Yemenis and Palestinians, victims of Saudi Arabian and Israeli recurrent brutalities.

Albeit tragic, please read the beautifully illustrated book by Rachel Corrie.  Let Me Stand Alone ». It surely is a treasured addition to every library.

And please observe one minute of silence to honor Rachel Corrie’s memory and the memory of all the Rachel Corries of this world who’ve stood up for human decency in the service of Justice and the cause of Peace.