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Palestinian
children hold portraits of Corrie during Rafah rally
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EREZ,
Gaza Strip, March 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Foreign
peace activists held Tuesday, March 16, a ceremony at the Erez
crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip to mark the first
anniversary of the death of their American colleague Rachel Corrie,
killed by an Israeli bulldozer a year ago.
The
23-year-old member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) was crushed
to death by the Israeli machine in the southern Gaza town of
Rafah on March 16, 2003, as she was trying to prevent the demolition
of Palestinian homes.
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.
“We
are here to honor and respect her life,” said fellow ISM activist
Gabriel Angelone, from New York.
The
activists also remembered their friend by performing a die-in to
protest the atrocities of the Israeli Occupation.
Palestinian
children also braved the incessant Israeli onslaughts to mark the
anniversary of “martyr” Corrie in the Rafah refugee camp. They
held her portraits in a peaceful rally in the Gaza Strip refugee camp
of Rafah.
The
anniversary was also marked by some 30 events held throughout the
United States.
Mom
Remembers
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Foreign
activists perform a die-in at Erez crossing point
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Her
mother Cindy, 56, has moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to deliver
the keynote address to remember her beloved daughter.
“It's
certainly bittersweet for me to arrive in Charlotte,” The
Charlotte Observer quoted her as telling a crowd of about 70.
“Spring
in Charlotte does have some different associations for me since a year
ago.”
“It
leads us to believe,” she said in her speech, “that only a U.S.
investigation can lead to a result that we and others can accept.”
In
September 2003, she said, she and Craig took a 2 1/2-week trip to
Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to see for themselves what
their daughter had seen, the paper said.
They
spent six days in Rafah and met the Palestinian pharmacist whose home
Rachel died protecting. The Corries ate and slept in the house, she
said, getting to know the man, his wife and their three children.
“We
went to sleep almost every night to the sound of shelling,” the
mother said. “We saw destruction wherever we turned.”
‘Killed
By Israel’s Wall’
Yet,
while questions remain about the details of her death, there should be
no question about its ultimate cause. Corrie was killed by Israel's
wall, U.S. daily The Seattle Times mourned Corrie Tuesday.
The
paper said most Palestinian homes in Rafah, including the one Corrie
was killed defending, are being demolished daily by Israeli bulldozers
to make way for a 700km-long, 6-meter-high, steel wall Israel is
building in the West Bank.
It
cited United Nations officials as saying that over the past three
years, Israel has destroyed nearly 900 houses in Rafah in order to
create a 100-meter “buffer zone”.
“The
wall that killed Rachel, and has destroyed the lives of thousands of
Palestinians in Rafah, is being built for one reason: to protect the
security of the 7,000 Israeli settlers who illegally occupy 30 percent
of Gaza's scarce land,” the paper said.
Condemning
the wall, a U.N. report said it would lead to severe
humanitarian consequences for more than 680,000 Palestinians.
A
Symbol
After
her death, Corrie became a symbol among Palestinians of support from
foreign civilians for their cause, and received posthumous honors from
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
The
Israeli government has refused to release its entire June 2003
military police investigation report to the United States but
continues to claim that her death was simply an “unfortunate
accident”.
This
comes despite the testimony of six eyewitnesses who said that Corrie,
with her bright orange jacket, was clearly visible to the bulldozer
drivers, and that the bulldozer lifted her up and drove over her
repeatedly with its plow down.
Her
family has so far been unsuccessful in getting the U.S. Congress to
pass a binding resolution -- put forward by the congressman from
Corrie's home district in the state of Washington -- for the
government to investigate the case.
A
22-year-old British activist from the same group, Tom Hurndall, died
last January after sustaining critical head injuries from a
bullet fired by an Israeli soldier in Rafah in April 2003 as he was
trying to pull Palestinian children out of danger.
The
group are involved in almost daily protests against Israel's
construction of the West Bank separation wall, which have often
resulted in clashes with Israeli troops.
