The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice

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Update on the Olympia-Rafah Mural Project! »

By Ashley Harrison on Jul 16, 2008 in Break the Silence Mural project news, Featured Items

Exciting work continues on the Olympia-Rafah Mural Project!

On the north side of the Labor Temple building at State and Capitol, we will affirm the sister-city connection between Olympia, Washington and Rafah, Palestine. The mural will examine Olympia’s “hidden histories” and explore links between our local past and global struggles for social economic justice. Labor history, the dispossession of Native Americans from their land, and current immigration and deportation struggles link us to events which have shaped the history of Rafah. Through art, we seek to understand our own past and present participation in colonialism and occupation.

Four “R’s” frame our design and image selection: relationships, return, resistance, and reconciliation. We celebrate and seek to strengthen the human connections between our communities; affirm the right of return for the Palestinian diaspora; acknowledge the daily acts of resistance to oppression; and express our heartfelt hope for reconciliation.

Central to our mural design is a large olive tree featuring tile leaves painted by local individuals to reflect their visions of peace and justice. Several hundred tiles have been painted and fired, with further workshops and open studios planned to work with artists, students, and organizations on mural design. Two artists from the Rafah Artists’ Association are helping to design scenes from Palestine and hope to join us during the painting. Between the branches, we are asking local groups to paint their social justice visions onto canvas fabric, which will be applied to the wall along with the tile leaves.

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Save the Date! Exciting updates from Peace Works 2008! »

By Ashley Harrison on Jun 24, 2008 in Peace Works, Featured Items

Save the Date! PeaceWorks 2008 will be held October 17-19 in Olympia, Washington at The Evergreen State College!

Let Me Stand Alone book tour event airs on Book TV »

By Chris Allert on May 17, 2008 in News and Updates

The Berkeley opening of the book tour will be airing on CSPAN-2 this weekend at the following times:

Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 7:00 PM EST (4:00 PM PST)
Sunday, May 18, at 2:00 AM EST (Saturday 11PM PST)

Click here to watch

The Olympia-Rafah Mural Project Arts Walk Celebration - Tile Painting and Performance! »

By Chris Allert on Apr 24, 2008 in Break the Silence Mural project news, Events

Friday, April 25, 2008, 5-9pm
Saturday, April 26, 2008, 12-4pm
Alley next to 211 4th Avenue East, Olympia, WA

Come and paint a tile that will be permanently displayed in the Olympia-Rafah Mural on the Olympia Labor Temple building. Add your voice for peace, in the form of a painted ceramic olive leaf, which will be one of many leaves of a giant painted olive tree. Visually express solidarity with our sister city of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, and your desire for peace in the middle east — no experience necessary!

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Let Me Stand Alone Book Tour Dates »

By Chris Allert on Mar 25, 2008 in Events

LET ME STAND ALONE:
The Journals of Rachel Corrie
Tour Schedule with Cindy and Craig Corrie
and featuring Special Guest Readers

The book tour will come to San Francisco, Seattle, Olympia, Portland Oregon, Washington DC, New York, Iowa City, and Minneapolis.

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Rachel Corrie Fifth Anniversary Memorial Event »

By Chris Allert on Mar 13, 2008 in Events

From the Middle East to Africa: Dynamics of Destruction and Rebuilding

Sunday, March 16, 2008, 3-6pm, Olympia Ballroom, 116 Legion Way, Olympia

A forum,”How Do We Live Together? From the Middle East to Africa: Dynamics of Destruction and Rebuilding,” will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, local resident and Evergreen student killed by an American-made Caterpillar bulldozer in Rafah, Palestine, as she stood to defend a home from demolition. The event on Sunday, March 16th, is from 3-6 p.m. at the Olympia Ballroom, 116 Legion Way SE, in Olympia and will feature three speakers with connections to Palestine and Central and East Africa. Adrien Niyongabo, of mixed Hutu and Tutsi parentage, was threatened with death by both tribes but now works on truth-telling, healing, and reconciliation. Jen Marlowe, author of Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival has recently returned from Gaza and is writing a book and play based on the experiences of her friends in Palestine and Israel. Dr. Steve Niva teaches International Politics and Middle East Studies at The Evergreen State College and has written on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict for numerous publications, including Peace Review and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Niyongabo, Marlowe, and Niva will speak to the dynamics of destruction and rebuilding in the Middle East and Africa and to the continuing relevance of Rachel Corrie’s life and message.

The free event is sponsored by the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice and the Olympia Friends Meeting (Quakers). Donations to support the work of the Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities program of the African Great Lakes Initiative and the work of the Rachel Corrie Foundation will be accepted. For information, call +1-360-754-3998.