Craig and Cindy Corrie

Dear Friends,

For the Rachel Corrie Foundation, 2010 has been marked by courageous pursuits of accountability. This work is supported by an expanding network of individuals and organizations standing together for justice, non-violence, and universal human rights in the Middle East. As we evaluate and look forward, we ask for your help.

On a personal level, the trial in Israel in Rachel’s case has been all-consuming. It is significant – because, as a civil case, it addresses the collective responsibility of the Israeli Ministry of Defense and State, rather than actions of strictly one or two lower-ranked soldiers. The Rachel Corrie Foundation continues to communicate and educate about the human rights implications of this legal effort.

In May and beyond, we followed the bold path of the Gaza flotilla, the Israeli military attack on the Mavi Marmara, and the determined journeys of the MV Rachel Corrie and Irene (the Jewish Gaza Boat) that followed. At great personal risk, courageous seafarers refused to accept the continuing intransigence of the Israeli Government toward Gaza and the unwillingness or inability of the U.S. and other world powers to improve the situation. From the week following the Mavi Marmara attack until after the MV Rachel Corrie sailed, we provided over 26 local, national, and international news interviews illuminating the Israeli blockade and siege of Gaza that drove the flotilla activists to sea. Based on our own experience and on the U.S.

The White House

Government position about the inadequacy of investigation in Rachel’s case, we wrote to U.N. Security Council members (including U.S. Ambassador, Susan Rice) and communicated in person with high ranking Obama administration officials about our lack of confidence in a U.S. supported Israeli investigation of the flotilla incident.

To encourage adherence to U.S. values and laws, we participated in the American Friends Service Committee’s Chicago Hearing on U.S. military aid to Israel and in the first ever U.N. Universal Periodic Review of the U.S. human rights record. We cited inadequacies and inconsistencies in application of U.S. law governing U.S. foreign military aid when evidence of human rights violations by aid recipients exists. Recently, when word leaked to the Israeli media about a halt in sales of Caterpillar D9 bulldozers and linked this to our trial in Israel, we joined efforts to gather thousands of signatures in support of a permanent halt to such sales until Israel demonstrates accountability for human rights violations committed with these machines.

In Olympia, the Rachel Corrie Foundation celebrated the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural Project, an inspiring public representation of the power of our connections. We proudly supported the efforts of TESC Divest and Olympia BDS that resulted in passage of Evergreen State College student resolutions supporting a CAT-free campus and college divestment from corporations that aid the Israeli occupation, and a successful boycott of Israeli products at the Olympia Food Co-op.

What will 2011 bring? In Olympia, our Peace Works Conference, Solidarity in Action (April 8-9), will feature a keynote address from author and activist Alice Walker and emphasis on BDS and other strategies. We will focus on Gaza – expanding our connections, supporting grassroots efforts for women, children, and families, and providing water purification for a Rafah kindergarten.

Congressman Brian Baird

Retiring Congressman Brian Baird, (WA-3) who visited Gaza four times since Operation Cast Lead, recently said of the ongoing Israeli blockade, “…from a humanitarian perspective, it’s a tragedy. From a legal perspective, it’s unlawful. And from a strategic perspective, it’s unwise.” The Congressman emphasized the importance of groups like RCF bringing our message to Congress. That message will become more powerful as we continue to network and partner wherever we can to most effectively impact U.S. and Israeli policy and to honor and advocate for the basic human rights of all in Israel/Palestine.

In our ongoing journey, it is a gift to find kindred spirits throughout the U.S., Israel, Palestine, and elsewhere, who share our hopes and nurture our efforts in so many different ways. Thank you for your invaluable support that makes each step we take possible. Despite disappointments on the national and international scene, we are all making a difference. This is a time to persist. During this month of giving, please share what you can with the Rachel Corrie Foundation. It continues to be the place where we dream about the possibilities that Rachel imagined and where we remember and try to emulate her spirit and creativity. Our small but committed staff and community of dedicated volunteers join us today in letting you know that your gifts inspire us. We are all grateful for whatever you are able to do to help.

Salaam, Shalom, and Peace, during this
holiday season,

Craig & Cindy Corrie

Olympia BDS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Olympia Food Co-op Board of Directors has decided to boycott Israeli goods at their two locations in Olympia, Washington. At a July 15th meeting packed with Co-op members, the Board reached this consensus. The Co-op becomes the first US grocery store to publicly join the international grassroots movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) on Israel for its human rights abuses.

Co-op board member Rob Richards explained, “My hope is that by being the first in the US to adopt the boycott we act as a catalyst for other co-ops to join in. Each additional organizational entity that joins may have a very small effect on the big picture, but drop by drop fills the tub.”

Noah Sochet, a Co-op member and Olympia BDS organizer adds, “As a US citizen and as a Jew, I’m proud to say that my Co-op no longer underwrites the suffering in Palestine.”

In accordance with its mission statement, the Olympia Food Co-op has a longstanding boycott policy, which includes a boycott of China (for its occupation of Tibet) and a previous boycott of Colorado (for legalizing discrimination against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in 1992). The Co-op also has policies for rejecting items whose packaging feature exploitive or oppressive imagery.

One Israeli product is exempt from the boycott: “Peace Oil,” a brand of olive oil fairly traded from Palestinian farmers in the West Bank and the Galilee, will continue to be carried by the Co-op.

The boycott follows on the heels of a similarly historic event at the nearby Evergreen State College. On June 2, students at the Olympia-based college voted overwhelmingly to approve two resolutions calling on the college’s foundation to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestine, as well as calling on the college to ban the use of Caterpillar equipment due to Caterpillar’s complicity in Israeli war crimes. The college is the alma mater of Rachel Corrie, who was killed by a weaponized Caterpillar bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003.

News of the boycott has drawn praise from around the world, including in Israel. “I salute the great work of the people in Olympia,” said Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli Air Force captain and co-founder of Combatants for Peace. “The decision taken by the Olympia Food Co-op is an important step toward just peace for all people living in Israel/Palestine. It is also a step toward accountability for Israel’s murder of Rachel Corrie.”

The BDS movement began in 2005 when over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations in Israel and in Palestine issued a call for the nonviolent tactic of BDS on Israel until the country abides by international law and human rights standards. The BDS call has become an international movement, endorsed by renowned figures such as Desmond Tutu, Naomi Klein, and Alice Walker. The Co-op boycott comes two months after Italy’s largest supermarket chains, COOP and Nordiconad, declared a boycott of products exported by Israeli Carmel Agrexco.

Israel has responded to the BDS movement by arresting prominent Palestinian endorsers. The Knesset is currently considering legislation to outlaw endorsement of BDS by Israelis.

Olympia Food Co-op removes Israeli goods from shelves; first US store to institute boycott

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