Background | Mission | Goals | Guiding Principles
Board members | Projects
Rachel Corrie was killed in the Gaza Strip in Palestine on March 16, 2003, trying to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian family (a pharmacist, accountant, their wives, and five young children). The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice was established by members of Rachel’s family and community to continue the kind of work that she began and hoped to accomplish.
The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice continues the work that Rachel Corrie began and hoped to accomplish, and carries out that work with her vision, spirit, and creative energy in mind. We conduct and support programs that foster connections between people, that build understanding, respect, and appreciation for differences, and that promote cooperation within and between local and global communities. The foundation encourages and supports grassroots efforts in pursuit of human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice, which we view as pre-requisites for world peace.
- EDUCATION: We conduct and support projects that educate for peace and justice.
- CONNECTIONS: We conduct and support projects that foster connections and understanding between peoples on global and local levels with initial and continuing emphasis in the Middle East.
- ART AND THE WRITTEN WORD: We conduct and support projects that promote the use of art and the written word in fostering justice and peace.
- GRASSROOTS PARTICIPATION: We conduct and support projects that educate for, encourage, and facilitate active, individual grassroots participation in bringing to fruition a positive world vision.
In its work the Foundation is guided by the following principles which reflect the vision, philosophy, spirit, and style of Rachel Corrie in whose memory it was founded:
- We believe that injustice must be challenged and that human rights and resistance to oppression “must be included in the way we define ourselves as a community.”
- We believe that education for justice and peace is a basic skill that must be universally nurtured.
- While supporting the advancement of human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice for all, we will emphasize efforts to alleviate the burden on women and children, who too often suffer the most.
- We are committed to the principles and practice of non-violence and to their advancement as means of effecting change.
- We view art, the written word, and other forms of creative expression as valuable tools for building understanding, respect and appreciation for differences and cooperation between peoples. We value and seek creative, and even unconventional, approaches to problems.
- We agree with Rachel that it is important to make commitments to people and places. We will continue the commitment to Rafah that she initiated and intended to maintain.
The Rachel Corrie Foundation is actively developing its Board of Directors. Our immediate goal is to draw from Rachel’s local community a diverse group of board members who share interests and values compatible with the foundation’s mission and vision.
The current board consists of the following five members:
- Cindy Corrie, Board Chair and President
- Christi McGinley, Vice President, Secretary
- Craig Corrie, Treasurer
- Asad Bushnaq
- Dr. Therese Saliba
- Peace Works, the Rachel Corrie Memorial Lecture/conference series
- The Evergreen State College Rachel Corrie Memorial Scholarship
- Sister City Support
- Rebuild the Nasrallah’s Home
- Educational Events and Grassroots Support
Peace Works, the Rachel Corrie Memorial Lecture/conference series
In March 2006, the foundation inaugurated Peace Works, an annual forum for analyzing war, racism, global economic inequality, oppression of women, and other forms of injustice and for formulating a hopeful vision of a world community that responds constructively to its inhabitants’ rights, needs and aspirations.
Peace Works 2007, focusing on the foundation’s program area of Art and the Written Word, was held over two weekends in April and May. Peace Works sponsored outreach and educational activities for the play My Name is Rachel Corrie when the Seattle Repertory Theater brought their production to the Evergreen State College. On May 5th, Peace Works moved from the solo voice of Rachel to a “choir of voices” with the performance of Voices of a People’s History at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Olympia. This was a stirring event with inspired readings from an array of local and visiting readers presenting powerful excerpts of speeches from labor, Native American, feminist, and other struggles throughout American history.
More about Peace Works can be found here.
The Evergreen State College Rachel Corrie Memorial Scholarship
The Rachel Corrie Memorial Scholarship has been awarded annually for the last three years to an Evergreen State College student dedicated to gaining a better understanding of the Middle East and to working locally or internationally to further Middle East peace. More information about the scholarship and the application process can be found here.
The foundation works to strengthen people-to-people connections between the US and Palestine (and particularly Rafah in the Gaza Strip). We support the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project, other sister city organizations, and other delegations that foster connections between communities involved in conflict.
In June 2005, we co-sponsored The Rebuilding Alliance educational and fundraising tour with members of the family whose home Rachel Corrie was defending when she was killed. This effort lends support to Palestinian families as they rebuild their homes during continuing occupation and siege. It connects the local Palestinian community, supportive Israelis, and people around the world in grassroots rebuilding efforts.
Educational Events and Grassroots Support
We sponsor and participate locally and nationally in an array of educational peace and justice events and initiative that foster dialogue and understanding as well as grassroots action. The following are some of the events we have sponsored or endorsed:
- Corrie Family participation in dozens of speaking events each year at conferences, colleges and universities, community forums, mosques, churches, talkbacks for the play “My Name is Rachel Corrie” in London and New York, film screenings, and more – throughout the US, in Vancouver, BC, London, and East Jerusalem.
- Gathering with Congressman Adam Smith to discuss his observations of the Palestinian Elections–February 2005
- Evening with Father Labib Kobti—Palestinian Catholic priest–March 2005
- Caterpillar, Inc–International Day of Education and Action—April 2005
- Local screening of “Bedeekee Darkee: Message from Home”—Shapiro, Bain, and Marlowe film about Darfur–May 2005
- Seattle Kite Day in conjunction with Kite Day in Israel-Palestine—May 2005
- Support for Michigan Peacemaker Team Summer Team in Rafah—June-July 2005
Evening with Sheila Provencher, CPT Volunteer in Baghdad—July 2005
Sponsorship and coordination of Peter Schumann art exhibit: THE U.S. SENATE READS AN EMAIL BY THE LATE RACHEL CORRIE TO HER PARENTS at Consolidated Works in Seattle, WA and at multiple venues in Fresno, CA – September 2005 - Sponsorship of the film “Private” at the Seattle Arab and Iranian Film Festival in Seattle – April 2006
- Corrie Family participation in the Caterpillar Shareholders’ Meeting, Chicago, IL – June 2006
- Sponsored and organized a Community Forum to discuss the crisis of the bombardment and invasion of Gaza and the events leading to it – July 2006
Local advocacy with area members of Congress regarding crises in Gaza and Lebanon – summer and fall of 2006 - Membership in U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation, and participation in the national conference in Dearborn, Michigan – September 2006
- Grant support for Birthright Unplugged and Birthright Replugged – December 2006
- Grant support for Gaza Community Mental Health Program, to assist the Women’s Empowerment Center in Rafah – December 2006
- Supported the national speaking tour of two Palestinian nonviolent leaders from the West Bank, Mohammed Khatib and Feryal Abu Haikal, and sponsored their presentation at St. Martin’s University in Lacey – March 2007
- Participated in the national rally, march, and day of lobbying to draw attention to the 40th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip – June 2007
- Supported the national speaking tour of Dr. Mona El-Farra, a physician and human rights leader from Rafah, and sponsored her talk in Olympia – June 2007
- Caterpillar Corp. Education: We provide ongoing education about the role that Caterpillar, Inc. has played in the Occupation of Palestine. —Ongoing
Five families — the Corries and four Palestinian familes — are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against Illinois-based Caterpillar, Inc. over violations of international and state law. The case can at first seem confusing to those who have not been following the issue. , 
