THE RACHEL CORRIE MEMORIAL DAY TO END THE OCCUPATION IN PALESTINE
DAY OF ACTION AND VIGILS TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF RACHEL CORRIE
On Tuesday, March 16, 2004, Palestinians, Internationals, and Israelis will hold a day of action and vigils to honor the memory of American ISM peace activist Rachel Corrie and to continue to highlight the ongoing atrocities within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
At 12:00 noon, activists from the ISM and Israeli peace groups will hold a "die-in" at the international crossing of the Erez checkpoint to Gaza. This action will be held in order to continue the work and spirit of Rachel Corrie who was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of a civilian home in Rafah on March 16, 2003. In her honor, this event will illustrate the continue daily violence, killing, and collective punishment within the Gaza Strip and the continued refusal of the international community to intervene.
At 6:00 pm, the Grassroots International Protection for the Palestinian People (GIPPP) is holding a candlelight vigil in honor of Rachel Corrie. This memorial will begin at the Manara in Ramallah with attendance from internationals of the ISM and GIPPP, Palestinian Organization, and Israelis.
At 10 am, the community of Rafah will hold a demonstration to remember Rachel Corrie who lost her life at the hands of the Israeli Army while in Rafah. This event will begin at the main square of Rafah and proceed along the main avenue.
For further information, contact:
International Solidarity Movement
http://www.palsolidarity.org
Please also see:
March 16 National Day of Action for Rachel Corrie
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/Activism/national_day_of_remembrance_for_rachel_corrie.htm
D.C. area organizations hold memorial for Rachel Corrie
FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN PEACE ACTIVIST'S DEATH IN PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES ON 16 MARCH 2004
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2500.shtml
Why seeking justice for the Palestinians is the Jewish cause
Shifra Eva Stern,
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2487.shtml
UPDATES
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
Wed March 17, 2004
INTERNATIONALS HONOR RACHEL CORRIE AND ALL THE VICTIMS OF ISRAELI OCCUPATION
On the one-year anniversary of the killing of 23-year old American ISM activist Rachel Corrie, twenty international activists from ISM and CPT remembered their friend by performing a 'die-in' at the Erez checkpoint to protest the atrocities of the Israeli Occupation.
At the beginning of the action, two activists and friends of Rachel read personal reflections written by Rachel during her time in Rafah and also spoke about the continuing destruction of Gaza.
The activists carried signs and wore T-shirts representing the many casualities of the Israeli Occupation. Representations of the power of Israel, the United States, and the Occupation symbolically 'killed' all the other participants. The victims included peace and justice, nonviolence, Palestinian homes, educational rights, water rights, farming, and innocent civilians among others.
These victims lay dead in 'blood' until they were given a flower to place on a message written to Rachel which they left behind with their 'blood-stained' shirts.
Rachel Corrie was killed on March 16, 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer while preventing an illegal home demolition in Rafah. Her life and spirit continue to inspire individuals to speak out against the injustices of the Israeli Occupation.
To see photos of the "die-in", please go to:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/pictures/PHOTOS_17Mar04_09_10_54GazaISM.htm
=================================================================
More articles concerning Rachel Corrie memorial day will be available on the palsolidarity website soon. Please check in the next few days on: http://www.palsolidarity.org
One Year Later: Rachel Corrie's Critics Fire Blanks
Steve Niva http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2506.shtml
JEWISH GROUP CONFRONTS CATERPILLAR CORPORATION
GROUP DEMANDS HALT IN SALES OF BULLDOZERS
THAT ARE USED TO DEMOLISH HOMES OF INNOCENT PALESTINIANS
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 (San Leandro, CA) -- Jewish Voice for Peace, the largest Jewish peace group of its kind in the United States brought a large contingent of Jewish peace activists today to a local Caterpillar dealership to demand that the CAT corporation stop selling its bulldozers to the Israeli army. These bulldozers are used to destroy the homes of Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are innocent people not involved with acts of violence.
This action is part of a major campaign initiated by JVP and is taken in support of a shareholder resolution being brought to the next Caterpillar shareholder’s meeting calling for an investigation into whether the sale of such bulldozers violates CAT’s corporate responsibility policy.
"American money and American labor are combining to supply Israel with the bulldozers that are destroying homes and destroying peace," said Liat Weingart, co-Director of Jewish Voice for Peace. "This is where corporate responsibility needs to take hold. Caterpillar is supposed to be in the business of constructing homes, and working farmland, not destroying homes, buildings and crops."
March 16 was chosen to commemorate the death of American peace activist Rachel Corrie on March 16, 2003. Corrie was killed by a Caterpillar bulldozer as she tried to protect the home of an innocent Palestinian family in the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of Bay Area Jews came to present their list of demands to local owner of Caterpillar dealership. Prominent activists and scholars were on hand and explained why Caterpillar has been targeted by a nation-wide campaign and how home demolitions diminish the hopes for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.
Jewish Voice for Peace
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
The Price of an Orange - For Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/10Mar04_10_53_25GazaStarhawk.htm
Just another day in the Occupied Territories
The West Bank, 13 March 2004
A beautiful day, a little chilly. The Israeli security services announced a week prior that the checkpoints would be improved and some would be removed. On this optimistic note a delegation of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel set out to conduct a mobile clinic in the West Bank village of Burqa, near Nablus- population: 5,000- with one government clinic and a doctor twice a week.
9:30am: the delegation ran into its first checkpoint, near a village south of Tul Karem. On both sides of the checkpoint dozens people were waiting to pass through in order to reach the city or the villages, or vice versa.
The delegation continued east bound on a bypass road, which was almost entirely empty, as travel is permitted only to Israeli vehicle and Palestinian buses which received the proper permits from the Civil Administration.
Ten minutes later the delegation arrived at the Deir Sharif junction. There, an army patrol unit blocked the road and prevented Palestinian movement. Four Palestinian buses which were permitted to travel in times of closure and siege, were waiting on the side of the road. Most of the passengers were traveling to Tul Karem. In response to questions posed by the delegation members, they related that they had already undergone several security checks and delays on the way to this junction, and that they were waiting at Deir Sharif for an hour. Later on their journey they would encounter a physical barrier (a locked metal fence) in the town of `Anabta, which they would have to pass on foot. Just past the barrier, taxis would wait in order to transport them to the city.
10:10am: The delegation continued to Barqa village via one additional checkpoint- Shave Shomron. This checkpoint is infamous for the difficulties encountered there. Here, Palestinians are often delayed for lengthy periods of time. Once again, dozens of Palestinians were sitting by checkpoint on the ground, waiting. They - the majority of whom were students on their way to university - informed the delegation that they had been waiting there since 6:00am. A soldier signaled to a truck driver in front of the line of vehicles to move forward, and then, when reaching the soldiers, he was told to travel back to the cement blocks, only to be told a few minutes later "come".
It seems that this has become the norm. The delegation was also signaled to approach the soldiers, but upon arrival the members of the delegation were rebuked by the same soldier. Hand signals, it appears, are not a universal language and some of the members had trouble understanding. The soldiers insisted that the delegation unload all of its equipment from the cars, and they conducted a search. After doing so, the soldiers said that in any event travel into Burqa is prohibited. The delegation insisted that it had the right to enter the village; the soldier called for an officer who arrived about 30 minutes later and permitted the entrance. The delegation continued on, leaving behind hundreds of Palestinians waiting by checkpoints and roadblocks.
A few kilometers from there, at 10:30 am, at the Beit Iba checkpoint, "Machsom Watch" volunteers called Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and related that dozens of Palestinians were being delayed since 5:30am on their way to Nablus. The people's ID cards were taken and security checks were been conducted slowly; amongst those waiting were a doctor and a medical worker on their way to Rafadiya Hospital in Nablus. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel's intervention partially assisted. The medical worker passed through; however, the doctor was forced to return to where he came from (at 15:00). Two men on their way to visit their brother in the hospital were sent back empty handed. They needed to receive permits. Nablus, army officials related, was closed, end of story.
Just another Saturday in the West Bank. The supposed easing of restrictions never reached these checkpoints.
For more information: Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHR–Israel) http://www.phr.org.il
One Year Since the Killing of Rachel Corrie; Amnesty International Urges President Bush to Call for Independent Investigation
Observing the one-year anniversary of the killing of Rachel Corrie, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today renewed its call for an independent investigation of her death. http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=B8D3AF54A1EF52BE85256E590055C091
Foreign peace activists commemorate Rachel Corrie, killed by Israeli army
A small number of fellow ISM members paid their respects to her by reading out e-mails and letters that she had written about Gaza to her family and friends back home in Olympia, Washington. They all wore t-shirts bearing the names of Palestinian victims of the intifada as well as of Corrie herself.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=6&u=/afp/20040316/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_us_peace_demo_040316132540
Palestinians fete UK activist as 'martyr'
Activist Tom Hurndall and U.S. peace activist Rachel Corrie, who died a year ago when she tried to stop an Israeli army bulldozer demolishing a house in a refugee camp, have become heroes of a Palestinian revolt against Israel in occupied territories. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=476685§ion=news
Palestinian deportee Returns to the West Bank
Al-Ajjoury was deported along with her brother by the army in August 2003 after being arrested and imprisoned for three months. She said that it is hard experience to be away from the family especially when her mother died last year; both her brother and Intisar were not allowed to attend her funeral.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/March/week3/031604/intissar-ajoury.htm
DAY OF ACTION AND VIGILS TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF RACHEL CORRIE
On Tuesday, March 16, 2004, Palestinians, Internationals, and Israelis will hold a day of action and vigils to honor the memory of American ISM peace activist Rachel Corrie and to continue to highlight the ongoing atrocities within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
At 12:00 noon, activists from the ISM and Israeli peace groups will hold a "die-in" at the international crossing of the Erez checkpoint to Gaza. This action will be held in order to continue the work and spirit of Rachel Corrie who was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of a civilian home in Rafah on March 16, 2003. In her honor, this event will illustrate the continue daily violence, killing, and collective punishment within the Gaza Strip and the continued refusal of the international community to intervene.
At 6:00 pm, the Grassroots International Protection for the Palestinian People (GIPPP) is holding a candlelight vigil in honor of Rachel Corrie. This memorial will begin at the Manara in Ramallah with attendance from internationals of the ISM and GIPPP, Palestinian Organization, and Israelis.
At 10 am, the community of Rafah will hold a demonstration to remember Rachel Corrie who lost her life at the hands of the Israeli Army while in Rafah. This event will begin at the main square of Rafah and proceed along the main avenue.
For further information, contact:
International Solidarity Movement
http://www.palsolidarity.org
Please also see:
March 16 National Day of Action for Rachel Corrie
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/Activism/national_day_of_remembrance_for_rachel_corrie.htm
D.C. area organizations hold memorial for Rachel Corrie
FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN PEACE ACTIVIST'S DEATH IN PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES ON 16 MARCH 2004
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2500.shtml
Why seeking justice for the Palestinians is the Jewish cause
Shifra Eva Stern,
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2487.shtml
UPDATES
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
Wed March 17, 2004
INTERNATIONALS HONOR RACHEL CORRIE AND ALL THE VICTIMS OF ISRAELI OCCUPATION
On the one-year anniversary of the killing of 23-year old American ISM activist Rachel Corrie, twenty international activists from ISM and CPT remembered their friend by performing a 'die-in' at the Erez checkpoint to protest the atrocities of the Israeli Occupation.
At the beginning of the action, two activists and friends of Rachel read personal reflections written by Rachel during her time in Rafah and also spoke about the continuing destruction of Gaza.
The activists carried signs and wore T-shirts representing the many casualities of the Israeli Occupation. Representations of the power of Israel, the United States, and the Occupation symbolically 'killed' all the other participants. The victims included peace and justice, nonviolence, Palestinian homes, educational rights, water rights, farming, and innocent civilians among others.
These victims lay dead in 'blood' until they were given a flower to place on a message written to Rachel which they left behind with their 'blood-stained' shirts.
Rachel Corrie was killed on March 16, 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer while preventing an illegal home demolition in Rafah. Her life and spirit continue to inspire individuals to speak out against the injustices of the Israeli Occupation.
To see photos of the "die-in", please go to:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/pictures/PHOTOS_17Mar04_09_10_54GazaISM.htm
=================================================================
More articles concerning Rachel Corrie memorial day will be available on the palsolidarity website soon. Please check in the next few days on: http://www.palsolidarity.org
One Year Later: Rachel Corrie's Critics Fire Blanks
Steve Niva http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2506.shtml
JEWISH GROUP CONFRONTS CATERPILLAR CORPORATION
GROUP DEMANDS HALT IN SALES OF BULLDOZERS
THAT ARE USED TO DEMOLISH HOMES OF INNOCENT PALESTINIANS
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 (San Leandro, CA) -- Jewish Voice for Peace, the largest Jewish peace group of its kind in the United States brought a large contingent of Jewish peace activists today to a local Caterpillar dealership to demand that the CAT corporation stop selling its bulldozers to the Israeli army. These bulldozers are used to destroy the homes of Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are innocent people not involved with acts of violence.
This action is part of a major campaign initiated by JVP and is taken in support of a shareholder resolution being brought to the next Caterpillar shareholder’s meeting calling for an investigation into whether the sale of such bulldozers violates CAT’s corporate responsibility policy.
"American money and American labor are combining to supply Israel with the bulldozers that are destroying homes and destroying peace," said Liat Weingart, co-Director of Jewish Voice for Peace. "This is where corporate responsibility needs to take hold. Caterpillar is supposed to be in the business of constructing homes, and working farmland, not destroying homes, buildings and crops."
March 16 was chosen to commemorate the death of American peace activist Rachel Corrie on March 16, 2003. Corrie was killed by a Caterpillar bulldozer as she tried to protect the home of an innocent Palestinian family in the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of Bay Area Jews came to present their list of demands to local owner of Caterpillar dealership. Prominent activists and scholars were on hand and explained why Caterpillar has been targeted by a nation-wide campaign and how home demolitions diminish the hopes for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.
Jewish Voice for Peace
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
The Price of an Orange - For Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/10Mar04_10_53_25GazaStarhawk.htm
Just another day in the Occupied Territories
The West Bank, 13 March 2004
A beautiful day, a little chilly. The Israeli security services announced a week prior that the checkpoints would be improved and some would be removed. On this optimistic note a delegation of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel set out to conduct a mobile clinic in the West Bank village of Burqa, near Nablus- population: 5,000- with one government clinic and a doctor twice a week.
9:30am: the delegation ran into its first checkpoint, near a village south of Tul Karem. On both sides of the checkpoint dozens people were waiting to pass through in order to reach the city or the villages, or vice versa.
The delegation continued east bound on a bypass road, which was almost entirely empty, as travel is permitted only to Israeli vehicle and Palestinian buses which received the proper permits from the Civil Administration.
Ten minutes later the delegation arrived at the Deir Sharif junction. There, an army patrol unit blocked the road and prevented Palestinian movement. Four Palestinian buses which were permitted to travel in times of closure and siege, were waiting on the side of the road. Most of the passengers were traveling to Tul Karem. In response to questions posed by the delegation members, they related that they had already undergone several security checks and delays on the way to this junction, and that they were waiting at Deir Sharif for an hour. Later on their journey they would encounter a physical barrier (a locked metal fence) in the town of `Anabta, which they would have to pass on foot. Just past the barrier, taxis would wait in order to transport them to the city.
10:10am: The delegation continued to Barqa village via one additional checkpoint- Shave Shomron. This checkpoint is infamous for the difficulties encountered there. Here, Palestinians are often delayed for lengthy periods of time. Once again, dozens of Palestinians were sitting by checkpoint on the ground, waiting. They - the majority of whom were students on their way to university - informed the delegation that they had been waiting there since 6:00am. A soldier signaled to a truck driver in front of the line of vehicles to move forward, and then, when reaching the soldiers, he was told to travel back to the cement blocks, only to be told a few minutes later "come".
It seems that this has become the norm. The delegation was also signaled to approach the soldiers, but upon arrival the members of the delegation were rebuked by the same soldier. Hand signals, it appears, are not a universal language and some of the members had trouble understanding. The soldiers insisted that the delegation unload all of its equipment from the cars, and they conducted a search. After doing so, the soldiers said that in any event travel into Burqa is prohibited. The delegation insisted that it had the right to enter the village; the soldier called for an officer who arrived about 30 minutes later and permitted the entrance. The delegation continued on, leaving behind hundreds of Palestinians waiting by checkpoints and roadblocks.
A few kilometers from there, at 10:30 am, at the Beit Iba checkpoint, "Machsom Watch" volunteers called Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and related that dozens of Palestinians were being delayed since 5:30am on their way to Nablus. The people's ID cards were taken and security checks were been conducted slowly; amongst those waiting were a doctor and a medical worker on their way to Rafadiya Hospital in Nablus. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel's intervention partially assisted. The medical worker passed through; however, the doctor was forced to return to where he came from (at 15:00). Two men on their way to visit their brother in the hospital were sent back empty handed. They needed to receive permits. Nablus, army officials related, was closed, end of story.
Just another Saturday in the West Bank. The supposed easing of restrictions never reached these checkpoints.
For more information: Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHR–Israel) http://www.phr.org.il
One Year Since the Killing of Rachel Corrie; Amnesty International Urges President Bush to Call for Independent Investigation
Observing the one-year anniversary of the killing of Rachel Corrie, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today renewed its call for an independent investigation of her death. http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=B8D3AF54A1EF52BE85256E590055C091
Foreign peace activists commemorate Rachel Corrie, killed by Israeli army
A small number of fellow ISM members paid their respects to her by reading out e-mails and letters that she had written about Gaza to her family and friends back home in Olympia, Washington. They all wore t-shirts bearing the names of Palestinian victims of the intifada as well as of Corrie herself.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=6&u=/afp/20040316/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_us_peace_demo_040316132540
Palestinians fete UK activist as 'martyr'
Activist Tom Hurndall and U.S. peace activist Rachel Corrie, who died a year ago when she tried to stop an Israeli army bulldozer demolishing a house in a refugee camp, have become heroes of a Palestinian revolt against Israel in occupied territories. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=476685§ion=news
Palestinian deportee Returns to the West Bank
Al-Ajjoury was deported along with her brother by the army in August 2003 after being arrested and imprisoned for three months. She said that it is hard experience to be away from the family especially when her mother died last year; both her brother and Intisar were not allowed to attend her funeral.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/March/week3/031604/intissar-ajoury.htm