Friends,

We in Washington State have opportunity this Sunday, April 15th, 1-2 PM, to bring positions on Israel/Palestine forward at the 2012 Washington State Democratic precinct caucuses – meetings of those who live in the same voting area or precinct.  At these local gatherings, held statewide, participants at the grassroots level participate in nominating the party’s presidential candidate and collect and forward resolutions to be used in drafting the party platform.

Tomorrow, we in Washington State can go to our local caucus and present resolutions on Israel/Palestine for discussion and to be moved forward to future party meetings.  This is an opportunity to bring the issue of Israel/Palestine to our neighbors – and to more than the “choir.”  Caucuses provide the additional possibility of being elected as delegates to the Legislative District Caucuses (April 28th) and County Conventions (April 29th) where resolutions forwarded from the Precinct Caucuses will first be acted upon.

Anyone can attend their local precinct caucuses and participate in platform and resolution discussions. To vote for candidates and delegates, one must be a registered voter in the precinct and sign a form declaring to be a Democrat.   You may register to vote at the caucus and vote in meetings on the same day.  Persons eighteen years-of-age on or before November 6, 2012, are eligible to vote in the caucuses.  Visit this website for an FAQ about the Washington State precinct caucuses and for the resolution template. Find your local precinct caucus location.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Dear Friends,

It has been nine years today since our daughter Rachel was crushed to death under an Israeli driven, U.S. funded and built, Caterpillar D9 bulldozer in Gaza.  In March 2003, the news was full of talk of war with Iraq – a preemptive war to protect the west, particularly the U.S. and Israel, from the weapons of mass destruction then alleged to have been amassed by Saddam Hussein.  When Rachel traveled to Gaza that year, the world was not watching. According to Human Rights Watch, from September 2000 until September 2004, 1,600 Palestinian homes in the city of Rafah were destroyed by the Israeli military as it occupied the Gaza Strip.  One-tenth of the population lost their homes.  Rachel chose to be in Gaza when the ground attack against Iraq broke out.  She feared an escalation of the violence and a tightening of the isolation against people there, as the world looked to the northeast and watched the carnage in Iraq.  It did not happen as immediately as some expected, but with the Israeli military attack on Gaza of November 2008 through January 2009, the violence became overwhelming, and the tightening of the seige initiated in 2006 by Israel to remove Hamas, made the isolation nearly complete.

My daughter Rachel Corrie brought me to the Palestinian/Israeli issue. Ours was a family and community that generally thought about the world and its inhabitants in a loving, curious way. We connected, as comfortable Americans do, through following and discussing the news, attending events, and making donations to support those in third world countries—but there was never any intention of sacrifice. In 2003, Rachel travelled to Gaza to join the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group of Palestinian and international activists who use non-violent, direct-action methods to confront the Israeli occupation. Why did she go? Rachel was motivated by her family and community experiences, by her questions about US foreign policy that arose after 9/11 shattering our nation’s sense of security and self-satisfaction, and simply by whom she was as a human being.

Dear Friends,

Cindy Corrie participating in Washington DC vigil for Troy Davis. Photo courtesy of Edie Garwood.

It’s become part of our annual ritual at the Rachel Corrie Foundation to write this end-of-year newsletter and use it as an opportunity to reflect on all that has been and all that can be. We dedicate this issue to Scott Kennedy – co- founder of the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz, former city council member and mayor, a giant contributor to efforts for justice and peace in Israel/Palestine, and our friend. Scott died unexpectedly November 19th – one week after leading his final tour to the Middle East with Interfaith Peace-Builders. In 2004, as mayor, he declared March 16th Rachel Corrie Day in Santa Cruz and said, “It is a very sad commentary on the state of political affairs in the United States that our national government has done virtually nothing to find out what happened…” In 2005, he hosted Craig and me and members of the family whose home Rachel stood to protect, in a memorable Santa Cruz visit. He was a brave, passionate man who helped us find our voices.

Earlier this month the Rachel Corrie Foundation convinced the National Building Museum (NBM) in Washington DC to cancel its September 14th public ceremony to award its prestigious Henry C. Turner Prize to Caterpillar Inc. Then last week, acting on behalf of the Rachel Corrie Foundation, we and representatives of Jewish Voice for Peace, Code Pink, the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace, and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (a coalition of more than 350 organizations) held a protest outside the F Street museum entrance. We sang, chanted, flyered, and chatted with the public. We then entered the Museum’s lofty Great Hall to deliver the call from 150 regional, national, and international organizations and more than 7000 individuals to rescind the prize to Caterpillar Inc. completely.

We met with Museum Development Events Manager Jessie Cochran. She promised to deliver our petitions to the Museum’s Executive Director, Chase Rynd, along with our requests to consider the human rights records of future award candidates and to use the museum’s public forums to discuss the built environment during conflict and occupation.

Petition delivery and action at the National Building Museum
Video courtesy of Bill Simonds, JVP – DC Metro Chapter

Thank you for your amazing support of this effort! You signed our petition, encouraged groups to sign our letter to the museum, and communicated directly with NBM staff with your own letters and calls. This small but public victory is just one indicator of how together we are bringing Palestinian human rights front and center and making a difference. Once again, we have exposed the complicity of Caterpillar Inc. in the ongoing violations of these rights by the Israeli military and government in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel.