News

Rachel Corrie Died In Palestine Rubble, But Her Issue Lives

Philip Weiss 1 May 2003

“Rachel Corrie represented the finest tradition of nonviolent peacemaking,” said Rachael Kamel of the Jewish Mobilization for a Just Peace, in Philadelphia. “An investigation is needed not only to clarify the circumstances of her death, but also to help Congress and the American public understand more fully the violence carried out every day in the occupied territories. “Rachel Corrie is a hero,” said Washington-based Charles Lenchner, president of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel. “These international volunteers represent the best of what American values are all about—Martin Luther King-style action.” Philip Weiss of the New York Observer examines growing sympathies among American Jewish groups with the goals of Americans like Rachel Corrie. 

"I was a human shield": An Israeli visits ISM in Rafah

Billie Moskona-Lerman Rafah, Gaza Strip 1 May 2003


“Rains of ammunition, bullets came down on us on that one single night. A single night, for me. The shooting went on continuously from 1.30 to 4.15, near the first light…’So they never hit your house itself?’ I ask him with an enormous burst of hope. ‘Oh, sometimes they do. Look at the bullet holes’. I raise my head and look to the sides. The ceiling is fool of holes, the side walls are cut up. So is the kitchen wall near the tap, near the table, in the toilet, one centimetre from the children’s beds. Some of the holes have been filled up. Every night, once the shooting ends, Jamil closes the bullet holes with white cement. The walls are patchwork, and if you dare approach the window you can see that Jamil and Nora’s home is surrounded by ruins on all sides.” Israeli peace activist Billie Moskona-Lerman writes about a night spent in Rafah, southern Gaza. 

Excerpts of Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas Speech Before Palestinian Legislative Council

PLO Negotiations Affairs Department 29 April 2003

On 29 April 2003, the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) gave an inaugral speech to the Palestinian Legislative Council. Following are excerpts and a link to his full speech. The excerpts are a fair representation of the speech in its entirety. The main difference between the texts is the removal of extensive salutations. 

Text of proposed "road map"

PLO Negotiations Affairs Department 30 April 2003

The following is the text of the performance-based and goal driven roadmap, with clear phases, timelines, target dates, and benchmarks aiming at progress through reciprocal steps by the two parties in the political, security, economic, humanitarian, and institution-building fields, under the auspices of the Quartet. The destination is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict by 2005, as presented in President Bush’s speech of 24 June, and welcomed by the EU, Russia, and the UN in the 16 July and 17 September Quartet Ministerial statements. 

Essay: A year in the life of Montreal's Palestinian solidarity movement

Darren Ell 30 April 2003


The following photo essay is about some of the people “whose names you will never know,” but whose work is essential to the success of the Palestinian struggle. For one year, I attended a large number of the many events organized by Palestinian solidarity groups in Montreal, Canada. Darren Ell writes for EI. 

Procession of the Species in Olympia remembers Rachel Corrie

candio. 29 April 2003


On April 26, 2003, residents of Olympia, Washington took to the streets for the 9th Annual Procession of the Species Celebration. This is the largest Earth Day event in the Pacific Northwest, attracting over 30,000 spectators and 2,500 marchers who don handmade costumes representing Fire, Air, Earth and Water. This year’s march was especially meaningful due to the presence of 100-150 peace doves in honor of Olympia native Rachel Corrie, who lost her life on March 16 while undertaking peacekeeping work in the Palestinian refugee camp of Rafah. 

'Foreigners' in their own land

Arjan El Fassed al-Khader, Palestine 8 July 2001

On Thursday afternoon, Annet, Nadia and I drove up to the village of al-Khader. A demonstration was planned to remove an Israeli blockade made out of rocks and the remainder of an old-bus, blocking the main road leading south. Like hundreds of villages in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the village of al-Khader, located on the outskirts of Bethlehem on the way to Hebron, has been sealed off by the Israeli occupation forces. 

Interactive Holiday

Arjan El Fassed Ram, Palestine 18 December 2001

When we stepped out of our appartment, we saw our neighbours and their children dressed in the new clothes that they could afford to buy to celebrate this year’s end of Ramadan. It’s the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the “feast of fast-breaking”, marking the end of the holy month, during which Muslims fast and reflect on self-discipline and compassion. Although the sun shines, the blue sky does not speak of the difficult times Palestinians have to endure. 

The wall goes on and on and on...

Isabelle Humphries 25 April 2003


“The wall is no secret. Even if people have not visited Qalqilya and Jayyous, the story is there in the newspapers. Or here, on this website. The people of Qalqilya are locked in a prison. There is only one way out, and few have permits to leave so as to find work elsewhere. Half the farmland is now gone and vital water supplies have been cut off. Palestinians do not have the permission to dig for more water. Israel is unilaterally setting boundaries, with no negotiation, no court of appeal. ” Isabelle Humphries revisits the concrete embodiment of Israeli impunity near Qalqilya and reports on the abuses suffered by farmers and merchants for The Electronic Intifada.