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

Jen Marlowe, a documentary filmmaker, human rights activist, and family friend of the Corries, recently visited Gaza . Here is a piece she wrote about her experiences, originally posted on TomDispatch.com and reposted with kind permission from Jen.

The Tightening Noose

Gaza under Hamas, Gaza under Siege
By Jen Marlowe

Images from Rafah flicker on my computer screen. Gazans blowing up chunks of the wall that stood between them and Egypt, punching holes in the largest open-air prison in the world and streaming across the border. An incredible refusal to submit.

I learn via email that my friend Khaled Nasrallah rented a truck in order to drive food and medicine from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. He was acting for no humanitarian organization. He’s just a resident of Rafah, a Palestinian town which borders Egypt, with a deep need to help and an opportunity to seize.
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Peace Works 2008 Update- Call for Volunteers

Greetings from the Rachel Corrie Foundation! Our recent Peace Works Conference 2008 planning meeting resulted in a working theme, more solid timeframe, and a clear set of considerations regarding our audience and program.

We are now loosely planning around the dates of October 17th-19th. The working theme that we agreed upon is “Dual Occupations: Sovereignty and Freedom from  Iraq to Palestne.”

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