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Israel denies entry Canadian peace activist

Christian Peacemaker Teams 13 March 2004

In the early morning hours of March 11, the Israeli Ministry of Interior denied Christian Peacemaker Team member Greg Rollins (Surrey, BC) entry to Israel at Ben Gurion airport and returned him as far as Amsterdam. “I’m surprised, we have a very strong court order, it seems the Israeli security people at the airport made a mistake,” said Sani Khoury, with the law firm of Kuttab and Khoury. A settlement in writing said that there are no restrictions on Greg’s entering Israel. 

One Year Later: Rachel Corrie as Justice Itself

G. S. Naggiar 16 March 2004


Mohandas Gandhi once said that: “We must become the change that we seek in the world.” In Palestine, the change that people of conscience seek is the elevation of justice to the condition of reality. With the rise of the Internet and modern information technology more generally, fewer and fewer individuals, particularly in post-industrial societies, can credibly claim ignorance about the plight of suffering human beings all across this planet. AAPER’s George Naggiar examines the spirit of Rachel Corrie and the call to not just seek, but to become justice. 

One Year Later: "Rachel, my mother"

Yasmine Abu Libdeh Rafah, Gaza Strip 16 March 2004


One day, I was going to the Children’s Parliament in Rafah and a young American woman attracted my attention. Her name was Rachel Corrie. She talked to me about my fears and the problems of security we children and our nation face. I was surprised by the fact that Rachel was trying to comfort me. As Rachel worked with the parliament, I understood that she wanted us to be able to have our voice heard in the outside world, particularly in America, to show how much we are suffering. She said she loved children and how she feels sad for them when they are killed. And from that time, we became good friends. Yasmine Abu Libdeh writes from Rafah. 

One Year Later: "What will it take?"

Raji Sourani 16 March 2004


One year ago today 23-year-old Rachel Corrie was killed. This striking young American, representing the values of the American people if not its current government, was run over by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting house demolitions in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Rachel was the first international to be killed while peacefully protesting illegal Israeli military actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, yet her death has proven insufficient to shock the international community from its lethargic slumber. “What will it take?” asks Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. 

One Year Later: Rafah remembers Rachel's kindness

Mohammed Qeshta Rafah, Gaza Strip 16 March 2004


“When she died, my friend Rachel Corrie left us grieving in immense pain. Now a year has passed since she was killed and we still miss her deeply. I still remember her lovely spirit, strong personality and laughter as if she were still around. In Rafah, every shop, street, and devastated refugee camp has a living memory of her kind smile and gentle voice. Her death meant an incredible amount to me personally and to every Palestinian who knew her, as well as those who did not know her. It was a terrible shock to everyone in Rafah.” Mohammed Qeshta writes from Rafah. 

One Year Later: Olympia after Camp Rachel

candio. 16 March 2004


Olympia, Washington is the hometown of peace activist Rachel Corrie who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces on March 16, 2003. This article looks at the impact of Rachel’s death on her community both in the period immediately following her death and in the year to come, focused on a peace camp which began its existence the day bombs started falling on Iraq. Camp Rachel was a bittersweet legacy of her death, one she would have both been proud of and proudly taken part of, most likely in a leadership role. It was a live and personal call to activists to rally in her name, to use her heroism as inspiration and strength for the actions, protests, petitions, letter writing and civil disobedience to come. candio. writes for EI. 

Israeli forces destroy university building in Gaza

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 16 March 2004


On Tuesday morning, Israeli forces destroyed the educational studies campus of al-Aqsa University in Gaza city. Israeli forces moved from Netzarim towards the Shuhada junction, north inside Zaytoun neighborhood and imposed a siege on the area. Israeli forces forced residents out of their homes and planted explosives inside the campus of al-Aqsa University. The explosion destroyed, damaging neighboring homes and wounding a woman and two Palestinian security officers. 

Israeli forces kill Palestinian in Rafah and wound 4 others in Aerial attack on Gaza

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 15 March 2004


Israeli occupying forces escalated their belligerent practices in two different incidences on Monday morning, 15 March 2004. Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian civilian in Rafah, claiming that he attempted to escape when they raided the family’s home to arrest his brother. In the same early morning, Israeli helicopter gunships launched missiles at three workshops in the densely populated Nasser and Zaytoun neighborhoods in Gaza city. The workshops were completely destroyed. 

One Year Later: IWPS statement on the first anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie

15 March 2004


March 16 is the sad one year anniversary of the killing of Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old American International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist crushed to death at Rafah, Gaza Strip. IWPS commemorates the courageous spirit of Rachel Corrie, and calls for an end to the illegal and brutal Israeli military occupation of Palestine. More and more activists (Palestinian, Israeli and International) are having to put their bodies between bulldozers and trees and homes in an attempt to stop Israel’s massive destruction of homes and land for the Apartheid Wall. 

One Year Later: Rachel Corrie's Critics Fire Blanks

Steve Niva 15 March 2004


A year has passed since Rachel Corrie, a 23 year-old American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, was killed by an Israel army bulldozer while nonviolently trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian house in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. During this time, the Israeli government has strenuously sought to obscure the circumstances of Rachel’s death and prevent an independent investigation. It has even refused to release its June 2003 military police investigation final report to the United States, only allowing an American embassy official to read and take notes from selected parts.