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Gazan branch of Union of Health Work Committees to name new cultural center after Rachel Corrie

Mona El-Farra 23 March 2003

The Union of Health Work Committees Board of Directors has decided to name its new children and youth cultural center in the Rafah Refugee Camp after Rachel Corrie. By naming the center after Rachel, this will provide a lasting outstanding memorial to our Palestinian kids so that they can know and keep in mind that they are not alone in this struggle. Dr. Mona El-Farra writes for Union of Health Work Committees-Gaza. 

Palestinians: long-term hopefulness still dominates

Kathleen and Bill Christison Ramallah, Palestine 23 March 2003

Hanan Ashrawi tells us bluntly that the principal aim of Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and his right-wing, Zionist fundamentalist government is to make sure that no Palestinian state ever exists as a viable entity. Their goal, she says, “is not just dismantling the infrastructure, the structures of Palestinian statehood, but dismantling an identity: not just preventing formation of a viable Palestinian state but eliminating a nation and a people.” The message that Ashrawi sees is clear wherever you go in the occupied West Bank. Bill and Kathleen Christison write from Ramallah. 

Jenin: Fourth Day of Collective Punishment for Ya'bad; Israeli Army Keeps up Pressure on ISM

21 March 2003

Following the killing of a Jewish settler by a member of the Palestinian resistance at about 2 pm on Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli Army of Occupation around Jenin has been taking its revenge upon Ya’bad, a town about 8 kilometres to the west of Jenin, close to the bypass road upon which the killing took place. ISM activists report from Jenin. 

Peace activist Rachel Corrie remembered on home campus

David Ammons 22 March 2003

More than 1,800 family, friends and faculty attended the memorial for Rachel Corrie at The Evergreen State College. At a news conference, Rachel’s parents displayed photos they described as 286 children who have died in Israel and the disputed occupied territory in the past two years. “They deserve as much notice as Corrie on the morning news,” Cindy Corrie said. David Ammon reports from Olympia for The Associated Press. 

War in a very small place

Bill Christison and Kathleen Christison Jerusalem 21 March 2003

We sit in a Jerusalem hotel on Friday night — the third night of the war — watching what looks like the beginning of Operation Shock and Awe, or some variation of it, in Baghdad, wondering how our former colleagues on the Iraq Peace Team are faring under this massive bombardment, wondering how frightened they must be, wondering how we would be responding ourselves if we were there. We are not there, but we have another war to report on, another civilian population under attack and siege. We went to Jenin in Palestine on Thursday. Bill and Kathy Christison report on what they are finding on their tour around Palestine. 

Rachel Corrie: Detailed eyewitness account, remembrance, and thoughts about the future

Joseph Smith Rafah, Gaza Strip 21 March 2003

“I am deeply saddened at the loss of a good friend and a brilliant activist. I am outraged that these soldiers have murdered my friend, as they have murdered thousands of Palestinian civilians. I am terrified at what they will do to internationals and other dissenting voices in the future. I now feel how every Palestinian family must feel. I am determined to continue to resist this brutal occupation, and have learned from the courage and dedication that Rachel displayed.” Joe Smith, an ISM volunteer in Rafah who was with Rachel Corrie when she was murdered, honors her spirit, details the events leading up to her killing, and worries that Israeli impunity may triumph again. 

ISM: The killing of Rachel Corrie and its aftermath

21 March 2003

Our friend and fellow activist for peace, Rachel Corrie, was killed on Sunday March 16, when she was run over by an Israeli-driven, US-made (Caterpillar D9) bulldozer, while trying to prevent a Palestinian civilian home from being demolished by the Israeli military in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip. This extended statement from the International Solidarity Movement offers an overview of and background to the event and ISM’s notes on the events and aftermath. 

Israel violently disrupts Rachel Corrie memorial service in Gaza

Robyn Long East Jerusalem 21 March 2003


On the 18th of March, three of Rachel Corrie’s friends from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) were delivering her body to Tel Aviv as three friends and I entered the Gaza Strip. Her brutal murder by the Israeli solider, fortified in a bulldozer, was the first topic of discussion with community members from the Palestinian police officers who checked our passports to the children in south Rafah who live beside the place where Rachel was killed.