Corrie Family and Attorney Hussein abu Hussein at Haifa Court- July 2011

(Olympia, WA USA – May 16, 2012)– The verdict in the civil lawsuit against the State of Israel for the killing of peace activist Rachel Corrie more than nine years ago will be announced August 28, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. at the Haifa District Court.

Members of the Corrie family, including Rachel’s parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, and her sister, Sarah Corrie Simpson, plan to return to Israel in advance of the hearing and be present when the verdict is read.

Download this press release: English (pdf, 282.59 kB)

Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American peace activist and human rights defender from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death on March 16, 2003, by an Israeli military Caterpillar D9-R bulldozer while nonviolently protesting the demolition of Palestinian civilian homes in Rafah, Gaza.

The lawsuit, filed in 2005 by attorney Hussein abu Hussein on behalf of the Corrie family, charges the State of Israel with responsibility for Rachel’s killing and failure to conduct a full and credible investigation in the case. The State of Israel claims the driver of the bulldozer did not see Rachel, that she should not have been in a war zone, and that a military police investigation found no wrongdoing. Four eyewitnesses from the International Solidarity Movement testified that Rachel was visible to soldiers in the bulldozer as it approached. According to the U.S. State Department, a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation was never conducted.

Oral testimony in the case began March 10, 2010. Over the past two years, there have been 15 court hearings at which 23 witnesses testified, producing more than 2,000 pages of court transcripts.

What: Hearing to announce the verdict in the Rachel Corrie wrongful death civil lawsuit against the State of Israel.

When: Tuesday, August 28, 2012, at 9:00 a.m.

Where: Courtroom of Judge Oded Gershon, Haifa District Court, 12 Palyam Street, Haifa, Israel.

Press Contact: Email: press@rachelcorriefoundation.org, Phone: Stacy Sullivan (in Israel) at +972-54-280-7572

» For trial related information and updates, visit http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/trial

While a response op-ed has already been written by Gar Lipow, a member of the Jewish community in Olympia, this op-ed also needs to be quickly countered by letters to the editor of the paper. These may be submitted to The Olympian at http://www.theolympian.com/letters/. Scroll down to see suggestions for points of the editorial to address. Even though these letters may not be published, they still play an important role by informing the paper about the public’s feelings on this issue.

• There has been no “intimidation against a local Jewish business” for hosting Israeli LGBT speakers by the BDS movement in Olympia.  Just listen to what Hava Aviv, the owner of the business in question, Kitzel’s Delicatessen, said in an interview: “Over the course of several days, many conversations came to my table.  No organization or group approached me… People came and said, ‘Hava, we are very concerned that you are hosting StandWithUs events, and we are very concerned that if you continue to host StandWithUs events, that groups will begin to organize to boycott Kitzel’s.’… Nobody came to me and said that they will boycott.”

• The author presents no evidence of intimidation against Temple Beth Hatfiloh.  In fact, in the only description she gives of an actual day at the Temple, she states that “The event was full of people happily enjoying food and buying books. No one had to knock to enter or seemed nervous about security.”  The event in question, Blintzapalooza, occurred on March 25th, only ten days after “intimidation” supposedly caused the cancellation of the event at Kitzel’s.

• The BDS movement is recognized as an effective opponent by Israel.  This can be seen in a variety of statements and actions of the Israeli government and representatives. For instance, on July 11th, 2011, the Israeli Knesset made it illegal for Israeli citizens to support boycott campaigns. The Israeli government has also become involved in attempts to suppress BDS in the United States. In Olympia, for instance, Akiva Tor, Israel’s Consul General for the Pacific Northwest, met with representatives of StandWithUs, the plaintiffs in the now-dismissed lawsuit against the Olympia Food Co-op, and their future lawyer, for a presentation on possible legal action.

• Americans are able to make a difference in the conflict.  Contrary to the author’s assertion that “only the people who live there can change it,” a key element allowing Israel to continue to oppressing the Palestinians is the roughly $3 billion dollars in military aid the United States gives them each year in grants.

• “Uncomfortability” is not the issue.  In his response to the editorial, Gar Lipow stated that “Opposition to Israeli occupation is not the only cause that makes some people feel uncomfortable. Some feel uncomfortable with marriage equality, or even with interracial marriage being legal.  Alleged discomfort is a bad argument against doing the right thing.” In addition, the stakes here are much higher than the comfort of Americans.  Our slight discomfort is incomparable to the hardships endured by Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid and occupation.

» Read the Rachel Corrie Foundation Statement on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions…

In support of the Olympia Food Co-op at the recent court hearing.

In our work, we have been witness to the lack of intention or will on the part of the Israeli and U.S. Governments to secure freedom, equality, self-determination and security for all in Palestine/Israel, and the inability of the international community to do so. We are keenly aware of Palestinians who have lived under oppression for over sixty years and of their Israeli counterparts who have felt the consequences of their government’s unjust policies — many of whom have struggled in solidarity with their neighbors for decades to change these policies. Step by step, action by action, we must build support for justice and equality for all in Palestine/Israel — support that government leaders will not be able to dismiss. Rachel Corrie took a stand in March 2003 for a Palestinian family whose home was threatened with demolition.  We believe the Olympia Food Co-op, of which she was a member, now stands with millions throughout the world who say, “Enough.”

Get Involved!

There are a number of different ongoing campaigns nationwide that supporters of human rights for Palestinians can become involved in. Locally, the Rachel Corrie Foundation is working to defend the gains of our Olympia Coop, the first food institution to implement a full boycott, to push for a boycott of Caterpillar, and to support efforts by members of the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to divest from companies profiting from the occupation. For information on volunteering with RCF, contact austin@rachelcorriefoundation.org to receive a volunteer form. For more information on national campaigns, and other local campaigns in Olympia, see the list below.

Local Campaigns

Olympia BDS – Olympia BDS is a grassroots network of community members in Olympia, WA, joining the call by Palestinian civil society for a nonviolent, global movement of boycott, divestment, and sanctions of Israel, until it meets the requirements of human rights and international law.

TESC Divest! at the Evergreen State College – TESC Divest! is a student-led organization in Olympia, Washington working to end Evergreen State College’s complicity in Israel’s abuses of Palestinian human rights through the non-violent tactic of divestment.

National Campaigns

U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) – USACBI is a U.S.-based campaign focused on a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, responding to the call of Palestinian civil society to join the BDS movement against Israel.

U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation – The U.S. Campaign is a coalition of over 380 local, regional, and national groups working to end U.S. support for Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem through a variety of strategies, including BDS. The Rachel Corrie Foundation is one of the member organizations of the U.S. Campaign.

We Divest – We Divest is a campaign by Jewish Voice for Peace – the largest US-based grassroots organization dedicated to promoting full equality, democracy, and self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians – to pressure TIAA-CREF, one of the largest financial services companies in the United States, to divest from the Israeli occupation.

The United Methodist Church has long called for an end to the Israeli occupation and for a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis. In 1996, the General Conference passed two resolutions opposing the occupation. One was in opposition to illegal activities undertaken by the State of Israel in occupied East Jerusalem. The other opposed the continued construction of settlements in the Occupied Territories in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, declaring that “continuing efforts by the State of Israel to build settlements in the occupied territories violates both international law and the spirit of the Declaration of Principles [of the Oslo peace accords].”

A similar resolution was approved by the General Conference in 2004. It stated the church’s opposition to “continued military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, the confiscation of Palestinian land and water resources, the destruction of Palestinian homes, the continued building of illegal Jewish settlements, and any vision of a ‘Greater Israel’ that includes the occupied territories and the whole of Jerusalem and its surroundings.”

In fact, these resolutions are just a sampling of the overall position of the General Council, which for over forty years has passed resolutions calling for a just peace in the region. Therefore, your approval of the resolution to be considered at General Conference in Tampa would bring the United Methodist Church’s actions into harmony with the strong moral stance on Israel/Palestine that it has taken for so long.

On December 11, 2009, a document entitled “A Moment of Truth – A word of faith and hope from the heart of Palestinian suffering,” (the Kairos Document) was issued by an ecumenical group of sixteen Palestinian Christians. It declared that “any use of the Bible to legitimize or support political options and positions based on injustice, imposed by one person on another, or by one people on another, transform religion into human ideology and strip the Word of God of its holiness, its universality and truth.” The document calls on Christians worldwide, and the international community generally, to show solidarity with the Palestinian people through “a system of economic sanctions and boycott,” – not as revenge, but rather as “a serious action…to reach a just and definitive peace that will put an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories and will guarantee peace and security for all.”

We at RCF stand in support of the Palestinian Christian call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions as a way out of the quagmire that Israel/Palestine has become. After numerous and prolonged visits to the region, we have come to believe that divestment is a necessary and promising strategy to move the parties toward a just peace. It is our strong connection with Palestinians and Israelis and our love for our Christian, Muslim, and Jewish friends in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel that have brought us to this conclusion. In our many conversations with Palestinian, Israeli, and international peace activists of all faiths, we have heard repeatedly that they need us to take action here in the U.S. to change the discourse and to alter the ever-worsening “facts on the ground.”

With our own delegation to Gaza in 2009, after devastation of the Strip by the Israeli military during Operation Cast Lead, we witnessed the human misery produced by the policies of the Israeli government. Traveling in the West Bank, we have continued to see Palestinians driven from their land by settlers, harassed by soldiers, and cut off from one another by the separation wall. Inside Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, we have met with families who have lost family members to violence perpetuated by the occupation. In the face of this suffering and of Israeli and U.S. intransigence, and inspired by the 2005 Call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions from over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, we have come to believe that a lasting peace will be achieved only when we withhold our financial support from all the forces of violence. We believe it is the right thing to do.

The Rachel Corrie Foundation is named after the American peace activist who was killed March 16, 2003, by the Israeli military while trying to offer some protection to a Palestinian family and their home. Two brothers (a pharmacist and an accountant) their wives, and five young children watched from inside their garden wall, as an Israeli military Caterpillar D9 bulldozer came toward the home and drove over Rachel, as she stood in its path. In a late 2004 report, Razing Rafah, Mass Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip, Human Rights Watch stated that since September 2000, over 1700 homes in Rafah were demolished as Israeli occupation forces cleared a wide buffer strip and constructed a large steel wall along Rafah’s border with Egypt. “The pattern of destruction strongly suggests that Israeli forces demolished homes wholesale, regardless of whether they posed a specific threat, in violation of international law. In most of the cases, Human Rights Watch found the destruction was carried out in the absence of military necessity.”

The Rachel Corrie Foundation is located in Rachel’s hometown of Olympia, Washington, where we carry on the work that she inspired. On February 27, 2003, less than three weeks before her death, Rachel wrote in an email from Gaza, “This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don’t think it’s an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I also want this to stop.”

In the courageous actions of Methodists advocating for the alignment of the Church’s investment policy with its moral statements, we at the Rachel Corrie Foundation see the same spirit of dedication to peace and justice that Rachel exemplified. In closing, we reiterate our support for the divestment resolution being voted on at the General Conference and wish you well in your consideration of this matter.

Respectfully,
The Board and Staff of the Rachel Corrie Foundation

This event is only ten days away.

Time to act is now!

Help in these ways:

1) As an individual, read and endorse the resolution here.
2) Act to have your organization read and endorse the resolution here.
3) If you participate in services provided by the UMC General Board of Pension & Health Benefits, read and sign the petition here.
4) If you are Palestinian and support church divestment, click here to sign this letter written by Palestinian Christians but open for signature by all Palestinians.
5) Lend help reaching out to voting delegates and commissioners by emailing to us at info@rachelcorriefoundation.org.

For background on the major Methodist and Presbyterian votes on divestment this year, see info from the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.  A victory in either of these campaigns would be a major step forward for divestment in the U.S., empowering other institutions to take similar steps.

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.

For resolution models, see those on Israel/Palestine that passed through Iowa caucuses earlier this year that can be modified for the Washington State Democrats resolution template.

We would love to know something of your caucus experience.  Take a resolution that supports justice in Israel/Palestine to your precinct caucus!  Then, report your experience back to Austin at info@rachelcorriefoundation.org.  Include any resolutions on Israel/Palestine submitted, the language of the resolution, and your experience bringing it forward.

Many thanks!

Cindy Corrie

P.S.  Let your Washington State friends know about this opportunity.

Resolutions passed through Iowa Democratic caucuses on the issue of Israel/Palestine

Resolution 1

US Aid to Israel be Suspended Pending Compliance with US and International Law.

Whereas US supports Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian land with $3 billion annually

Whereas this biased support sustains the illegal Israeli occupation and engenders hostility toward the US in the Arab world

Whereas the $3 billion could better be used to support US domestic needs

Whereas this aid violates the US Arms Export Control Act –which prohibits the use of US weapons against civilians

Whereas this aid violates the US Foreign Assistance Act – which prohibits assistance to any country which “engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

Whereas the US governments, and international human rights groups have documented repeated human rights abuses and use of US weapons on civilians

Be it resolved that US suspend military aid to Israel until Israel comes into compliance with international laws and US trade and assistance laws.

Resolution 2

Whereas the US is in fiscal crisis; and

Whereas the US sends $3 billion a year to support Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine;

We support the reduction of financial support that the US sends to Israel.

We support the establishment and recognition of a contiguous,viable Palestinian state along the 1967 borders.

We support the health and welfare of the people of Gaza and demand that Israel end its illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip.

We support the destruction of the Separation Barrier that separates Palestinians from their families, their jobs, their schools and their livelihoods.

Resolution 3

In the Israel/Palestine conflict, we support …

• The U.S. engaged as an impartial broker, promoting negotiations in order to achieve peace and security for Israel as well as a secure, viable and contiguous Palestinian state.
• Re-evaluation of U.S. military aid to Israel and transition to humanitarian aid to Israelis and Palestinians.
• Full United Nations recognition of Palestine.

We oppose…

• All acts of violence by any party under any pretext, whether claimed to be aggressive or defensive.
• The existence and continued construction of the Israeli “separation wall.”
• Continued construction of Israeli settlements on disputed lands within the West Bank.
• Continued collective punishment of the non-combatant civilians of Gaza.

Resolution 4

Israel/Palestine Conflict

We support:

• The establishment and recognition of a contiguous, viable Palestinian State along the 1967 borders.
• Israel’s right to live within secure borders, with democracy to all of its citizens regardless of religion.
• The health and welfare of the people of Gaza, and demand that Israel end its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
• Delegating the UN as the sole authority to facilitate a final resolution.

We oppose:

• Israel’s settlement activity on territory captured in the six-day war of 1967.
• Moving the US embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem prior to final resolution.
• The Separation Barrier for precluding Palestinians from their families, schools, and jobs.
• Use of human shields, suicide bombing, collective punishment and violations of international laws.

(Olympia, WA USA – April 9, 2012) – The announcement of a verdict in the civil lawsuit against the State of Israel for the killing of peace activist Rachel Corrie, which was scheduled for late April, has been postponed due to delays in the filing of closing arguments. A new verdict date has not yet been scheduled by the court, but is likely to be months away.

Download this press release: English (pdf, 285.66 kB), العربية (pdf, 429.05 kB), עִבְרִית (pdf, 442.26 kB)

Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American peace activist and human rights defender from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death on March 16, 2003, by an Israeli military Caterpillar D9-R bulldozer while nonviolently protesting the demolition of Palestinian civilian homes in Rafah, Gaza.

The lawsuit, filed in 2005 by attorney Hussein abu Hussein on behalf of the Corrie family, charges the State of Israel with responsibility for Rachel’s killing. Oral testimony in the case began March 10, 2010. There have since been 15 court hearings at which 23 witnesses testified, producing more than 2,000 pages of court transcripts. While all witnesses for the Corrie family testified openly, including four activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who were at the site where Rachel was killed, most government witnesses were identified only by their initials, and several testified behind a screen.

Each hearing was attended by officials from the American Embassy, numerous observers from local and international legal and human rights organizations, and members of the Corrie family.

The last court hearing was July 10, 2011. At that time, Judge Oded Gershon set the schedule for both sides to present written summations and closing arguments and announced he would render a verdict April 23, 2012. Multiple delays in the summation process resulted in the postponement.

Scheduling updates will be posted to the Rachel Corrie Foundation website as soon as additional information is available.

Please visit http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/trial for updates, last minute changes to the court schedule, and related trial information.

For press related inquiries, please contact: press@rachelcorriefoundation.org

The Methodist vote is less than one month away and support is urgently needed. You do not have to be Methodist or Presbyterian to work on these campaigns (although it helps).

How to Support the Votes

#1 Volunteer to help pass these resolutions!

United Methodists and Presbyterians would be especially helpful, but really anyone can help in lots of different ways. Please:

• Fill out this survey to find out where you’d best fit in.
• Attend a briefing and training on April 4th at 5-6:15pm PST / 8-9:15pm EST by US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation National Organizer Anna Baltzer.

#2 Endorse the United Methodist resolution

Endorse the resolution as an individual or on behalf of an organization. All signatures are welcome. There is also a petition you can sign if you participate in services by the UMC General Board of Pension & Health Benefits.

#3 Sign a Letter of Support

Sign a letter supporting the Presbyterian divestment recommendation at as an individual or on behalf of an organization. This is a historic and welcome step to align the church’s words that advocate an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land with desperately needed action!

Rochelle Gause, Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
Anna Baltzer, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Emily McNeill, United Methodist Kairos Response
Sydney Levy, Jewish Voice for Peace

Rachel Corrie Memorial in Rafah, Gaza. Photo by Jeff Bright.

On Sunday 19th March, We travelled to Rafah area of Gaza to remember Rachel , whose 9th Anniversary fell on March 16th. Rachel was a 23-year-old American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on 16 March 2003, while undertaking nonviolent direct action to protect the home of a Palestinian family from demolition. We first attended an olive planting ceremony attended by Palestinian schoolchildren and organised by the Ministry of Sport and Youth. A speech was read by Nathan, on behalf of the International Solidarity Movement which included excerpts from Rachel’s letters home in which she portrayed her admiration and love of the Palestinian people. The school children sang song’s and held up posters of Rachel and messages of solidarity.

» Click here to see photos by Jeff Bright from the event…

In the afternoon, we went to the Rachel Corrie Children’s Centre, also in Rafah.

After Rachel’s untimely death in March 2003, the Union of Health Work Committees named their clinic and children’s center after her. The Children’s Center is dedicated to building relationships between the isolated children and youth in Rafah and their peers in other countries.

The Children’s Center provides creative and educational opportunities to the children of Rafah City and Rafah refugee camp. They hold art classes, summer camps and a variety of after-school programs.The children attending range from 6 -11 years old, boy’s and girl’s. They work , through play to help children, perhaps withdrawn or falling behind in school due to the experience of living under a siege, They also work frequently with mothers of the children to better help them to help their children open up about their troubles through interactive role playing and projects.

In December 2003, The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) , provided start-up funds to purchase furniture, art supplies, and computers for the new center. Since then they have supplied back-packs with school supplies for the children at the center and continued to support their diversifying programs. In 2007, they bought educational toys and games and new furnishings for their children’s playroom and donated the books for their children’s library.

We joined in as they cut out and decorated banners with posters of Rachel glued in the centre, We divided in to teams for their game of ” Sharks and Fishes”. Slowly throughout the afternoon , the children themselves became less shy and little hands would sneak in to mine, or tussles would begin to see who got a turn to sit beside us or on my knee, slightly more confident ones would insist jeff took their pictures, others wanted to be on Derek’s team, some of the little girls wanted to come home with me, even the smallest, most timid, little girl of the group made her way finally over to me and ended up sitting on my knee and kissing and hugging me . The children put on demonstrations, songs and games for us and invited us to join in. The children’s only outdoor play area is a small playground in Rafah, very close to the tunnel and border area so they do not manage to use this area very often.

My heart would break when ever I would remember the atrocities these kids have already seen in their short lives, the nightmares some still have and the possibility that each day could bring more bad images and memories, but the help and support centre’s like this can offer gives us all some hope

As always, sadly, more and more children require the use of a facility like this and funds and equipment are always needed. These children opened up their centre to us, laughed as we tried our best to fit in with their games, gave us the privilege of spending a few hours with them…… wore us out basically !!!!

It was an Honour and a Privilege to be part of their lives as it was an honour to be In Gaza on the occasion to commemorate not just the Death, but the life of a young Activist, Rachel, who will never be forgotten by Palestinian’s young and old and by those of us who never met , but came to know her through her stories of Palestine and her own life story.

R.I.P Rachel ..

(This article was originally published at IrishInGaza’s blog)