“Crushed into the earth, her face torn and her head fractured, Rachel spoke her last words to her devastated friends: ‘I think my back is broken.’ Within the hour, Rachel Corrie, US citizen, aged 23, was dead, the victim of a murder committed in broad day light. With her killing, ISM activsts and all who share their humanitarian goals grounded in universal principles of justice and equality, had been been put on notice by the Israeli Defence Forces that their collective backbone could be broken.” EI co-founder Laurie King-Irani asks what Rachel Corrie’s life and death can tell us about achieving human rights and justice in the Middle East. Read more about One Year Later: Whose back is that strong?
If the purpose of a pilgrimage is to reawaken or reaffirm one’s spirituality, James, the title character of the new Israeli film James’ Journey to Jerusalem, certainly does that. However, the idealistic young African’s journey is fraught with unexpected and difficult detours, putting his faith on trial as he becomes seduced by consumerism and power. And while the film is plagued with technical problems, its success lies in the complication of its characters and its universal allegorical message regarding consumerism, power, and religion. Read more about Film review: James' Journey to Jerusalem meets complex road blocks
Israeli forces killed two children in Rafah. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Wael Injili died of his injuries after being hit with shrapnel during the Israeli assault on Rafah refugee camp. Medical sources told WAFA that he was severely injured. Earlier, Israeli forces killed Mosbah Mwafi. Israeli attack helicopters fired missiles on homes. Mwafi was being hit with a missile which separated his head from his body. Israeli tanks, jeeps and army bulldozers, backed by Apache helicopters invaded Rafah refugee camp, opening fire on homes. Israeli bulldozers demolished five homes in the refugee camp. Read more about Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians in Rafah
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. Read more about One Year Later: Rachel Corrie as Justice Itself
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. Read more about One Year Later: "What will it take?"
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. Read more about One Year Later: Olympia after Camp Rachel
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. Read more about One Year Later: Rachel Corrie's Critics Fire Blanks
In December 2003, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited Ruweished refugee camp in eastern Jordan. Jolie, who has been a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador since August 2001 wrote a journal which has been released today by the UN refugee agency. During her one day visit to Ruweished refugee camp, where more than 800 refugees, mostly Palestinians, have settled after fleeing Iraq in April 2003. The actress, who starred in Gone In 60 Seconds and as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider visited the camp’s pre-school. The children at the school told her “their dream is to see their homeland.” Read more about Angelina Jolie gives voice to Palestinian refugees in Jordan
In the early weeks of the invasion of Iraq, when the US thrust toward Baghdad appeared to be meeting more resistance than expected, an awful row broke out in Washington over the role of pro-Israel groups and individuals in dragging the country to war. Increasing media examination of the roles of key neoconservative figures associated with Likudnik groups gave rise to a backlash that sought to tar anyone who dared raise questions with anti-Semitism. But a an expose by a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force who recently retired from the Pentagon, reveals that the influence of such groups was direct, organized and effective. EI’s Ali Abunimah explains. Read more about It's worse than you thought: pro-Israel influence on US policy
Since the beginning of this month, Israeli forces have killed 44 Palestinians, including women and children. According to data from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Ministry of Health, 30 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 14 in the West Bank. Among those killed are 18 minors. More than 197 Palestinians, mostly children, were wounded in the same period. In February 2004, Israeli forces killed 52 Palestinians. On March 7 alone, 14 Palestinians were killed, including 4 children, as Israeli forces invaded Nusseirat and Bureij refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. Read more about Israeli forces kill 44 Palestinians since beginning of March
