News

Photostory: Israeli bulldozer driver murders American peace activist

Nigel Parry and Arjan El Fassed 16 March 2003

On 16 March 2003 in Rafah, occupied Gaza, 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie was murdered by an Israeli bulldozer driver. Rachel was in Gaza opposing the bulldozing of a Palestinian home as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. Photos clearly show she was well marked, had a megaphone, and posed no threat to the bulldozer driver. “This is a regrettable accident,” Israeli Defence Forces [sic] spokesman Captain Jacob Dallal was reported as saying in Ha’aretz newspaper. “We are dealing with a group of protesters who were acting very irresponsibly, putting everyone in danger.” 

Heading for Jerusalem

Kathleen Christison and Bill Christison Amman, Jordan 14 March 2003

We have a picture taped above a computer at home, sent to us a month ago on the email circuit, of a naked Palestinian man who has just been strip-searched by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Ramallah and relieved of his clothes altogether, now surrounded by other Palestinian men trying to cover him. 

US activist, Rachel Corrie, 23, killed by IDF bulldozer in Gaza

16 March 2003

“Rachel was alone in front of the house as we were trying to get them to stop. She waved for the bulldozer to stop and waved. She fell down and the bulldozer kept going. We yelled, ‘Stop, stop,’ and the bulldozer didn’t stop at all. It had completely run over her and then it reversed and ran back over her.” An American International Solidarity Movement activist was killed today while protesting and trying to prevent a house demolition in Gaza. 

Israeli Army Continues its Killing Spree in the Gaza Strip

Kristen Ess Gaza Strip 8 March 2003


At 8 this morning Gaza City shook. One man just told me, “I was coming up the stairs to work. I thought the whole building was going down.” Neighbors stuck their heads from windows to see what was happening. Four US donated Apache helicopters hung in the sky, two on each side above our heads, firing missiles directly into a car. The explosions were terrifying to an already targeted and terrorized people. Kristen Ess writes from Occupied Gaza. 

Report from the medical front lines in Gaza

Steve Sosebee Gaza, Palestine 10 March 2003


My 5-member Italian plastic surgery team wrapped up their final two operations on Thursday afternoon two hours behind schedule, which was not too bad, considering we were working 15 hour days on average for a week. By our third night in the Gaza Strip, the nocturnal shooting and explosions from the nearby Israeli settlement of Dugit and the Khan Younis refugee camp no longer woke us up. A controlled exhaustion had taken over and even the war outside was merely an occasional distraction. Steve Sosebee writes from Gaza. 

The countdown begins

Diaa Hadid Ram, Palestine 9 March 2003

Last week, before a new wave of work came in, we thought about having a press conference “what will happen in Palestine with a war on Iraq?” One of my colleagues raised an eyebrow - I had asked him to speak - he simply answered my question, “More of the same shit, Diaa, what else?” Diaa Hadid writes from Ram, occupied Palestine. 

Severe Attack on the Gaza Strip

Kristen Ess Gaza Strip 7 March 2003


Gaza Strip hospitals are urgently requesting blood and medical supplies that under constant Israeli closure they are unable to get. They have run out of space for all of the dying Palestinians. Israeli occupation forces have injured 100s of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the past week alone. This week has been particularly brutal in the Gaza Strip. Under the violent Israeli occupation Palestinians are held hostage, unable to get away from invading Israeli soldiers shelling from tanks, firing from Apaches in the sky, and shooting guns at any Palestinian who is here. Kristen Ess writes from Gaza. 

Letter from Bethlehem

Toine van Teeffelen Bethlehem, Palestine 7 March 2003

We got two full days of snow. It came with storm, so we found ourselves in a kind of emergency state. With so much snow falling on the roofs, water started to trickle down through the porous stones, and soon black spots appeared on the walls signaling humidity.