I started writing this the night of the 15th. I'm at my friend Joan's house after a long day of work, errands, a cold that just refuses to go away. She is in the ICU right now, after two rounds of chemo, battling pneumonia. Her two daughters are asleep, although the youngest is stirring from time to time. And just now, her four year old has walked out in a half-asleep state, causing her father to bring her back to her room. I'm looking at the clock, which tells me I should pack it in and get some rest. But, tomorrow is an important day, and I must make note of it.
March 16 has become an important date for me, ever since 2003. It was that day that I learned of the death of Rachel Corrie. My activism, my dedication to doing what I can for peace and justice in my community, the middle east & the world at large, can, to some degree, be traced to that moment.
You know, I'm not sure what date it was when I learned of her death; maybe the 16th, maybe the 17th, who knows. I do remember how & where I learned. It was just a normal day at work, in a very abnormal time. The invasion of Iraq had begun, making the Bay Area a frenzy of political activism and demonstrations. And here I was, just beginning to explore my own developing activist interests.
In the years before, I had gone to the occasional demo, and especially in the area of I/P, I had been reading voraciously. In some way, I kind of thought that knowledge itself has its benefits, a power of sorts. But I also was on a personal journey for some time (and am still on it, no doubt), a journey on which the more I learned, the more I saw the myths of my upbringing being shattered and brought down (I document this in more detail here).
But things were changing; the bay area was alive with opposition to the wars of Bush & Cheney, which brought together so many groups, so many people, and so much creativity. I remember the first march I went to, a few weeks before the big one on Feb 15, and I was just stunned at the display. But with all that going on before me, I still was not part of any particular organization, and I did not focus on any particular activist goal as such.
But on that day at work, I opened my browser and went to CNN, to get an idea of what the MSM was covering that nanosecond. In a corner, down in the bottom somewhere, I happened to notice a blurb about an American woman killed in Gaza. I clicked on the link, and her picture came up, a picture of Rachel Corrie. She was wearing a hijab and wearing black robes, and the article said the bare minimum about her and her death, only that it happened in Rafah, in Gaza, and it involved a bulldozer (I can't remember if that article in particular said that she was crushed by the bulldozer). But very soon, I was scouring the web for as much information as I could find on the subject. I also looked into the organization she was there with, the ISM, and very soon I knew that I had to become a part of it. It wasn't long until I was meeting with the local volunteers of Norcal ISM (among them Tom J & Another Paul in Berkeley, some of the kindest and most dedicated activists that I know) and discussing the possibility of going to Palestine.
And since then there has been so much. We got motions passed in Berkeley, one calling for an investigation of Rachel's murder; we raised money, bottled and sold Palestinian olive oil (still going, it is the best!), helped send hundreds of volunteers to Palestine, and continue to attend major demonstrations and community events here in the Bay Area.
And we have also continued to feel the losses; so many Palestinians have been killed, merely living their lives in Palestine (to say nothing of those killed protesting non-violently, like my friend Bassem), and internationals have continued to be targeted. Just months after Rachel's murder, Brian Avery was almost killed, Tom Hurndall was shot in the head and died months later, and recently, Bay Area activist Tristan Anderson was nearly killed by a tear gas canister. I often wonder at the cruel things people say about Rachel, Tom, Tristan & Brian (and of course, Palestinians in general). One day at a demo, some Israel supporters gleefully sported posters mocking Tristan, showing a small grenade bouncing harmlessly off his head. They looked at me, and they laughed.
Rachel's murder shocked me, on so many levels, and in so many ways challenged my approach to the conflict, and to life in general. I had read of Palestinians & Israelis being killed, I had seen their names and learned the facts and figures. But Rachel made me see and feel the loss, the injustice, as being more than just data, but as real people, with real lives, and real pain.
This is a good thing, no doubt, and not hard to understand why it struck me like it did. Here was a young American, traveling the world and putting her life on the line for her principles. That I would identify with her, having just recently spent time abroad is not surprising. But it also revealed my own biases to me in a way that truly bothered me. That despite my dedication against racism and for justice and equality, I was still only human. The way that lives and people are branded according to categories that we try to transcend, but deep inside we cling to, this was a jarring lesson for me.
I remember spending time with Rachel and Craig in Bethlehem at a Non-Violence conference, and attending a workshop led by Cindy. I told her, and everyone else attending (Palestinians, internationals and Israelis), of my realizations from Rachel's murder. I also listened to the words of others, in particular, a young Palestinian boy from Bethlehem. He told us of when he realized that his father could not protect him, and that his life was reduced to the cost of an Israeli-American bullet. But he also spoke to Cindy of what Rachel meant to him; that her daughter, an American, who chose to stand with Palestinians. Thad she had suffered the pain and death that was meant for Palestinians, that was meant for him. And that he would never forget that.
But Rachel, in 5th grade, understood these things. She spoke with an eloquence, and beauty and a determination that still brings me to tears. Her words, "We have got to understand that they are us. We are them," express so well the spirit of what she and so many other activists, workers, organizers, artists and others have tried to do and are still trying to do. I felt it in Palestine, the way people opened up to us, total strangers, taking us into their homes and treating us with incredible kindness.
Do go to the Rachel Corrie Foundation, and watch the videos of Rachel, listen to her words, and keep track of the court case, as it has already revealed quite a bit;
Autopsy doctor admits to violating court order in Rachel Corrie autopsy
Dr. Yehuda Hiss, the former head of the Israel Forensic Institute who conducted the autopsy of Rachel Corrie at the request of the Israeli military, admitted that he violated an Israeli court order requiring that an official from the U.S. Embassy be present during Rachel’s autopsy. Hiss also stated that his policy was not to allow entrance to the autopsy to anyone who is not a physician or biologist. Dr. Hiss stated that he spoke by phone with the US Embassy after receiving the court order and was told they would not be sending a representative, and that the Corrie family had agreed to the autopsy. Dr. Hiss admitted there was no documentation in his file of this conversation with the Embassy. The U.S. Embassy has repeatedly told the family that this was not the conversation that occurred.
Eye Witness Testifies: Israeli Military Investigator Tried to Influence My Statement
Today’s only testimony came from British citizen Alice Coy, a nurse, who was an eyewitness to the killing. The state spent most of the day trying to establish that contrary to all eyewitness accounts and human rights reports, the Israeli Military had no intention of demolishing homes in the area on the day Rachel was killed. Ms. Coy testified that:
* She first visited Israel in order visit Israeli family members.
* When the Israeli Military interviewed her on April 1st about Rachel’s killing, the soldier who documented her testimony refused to record her statement that she believed the bulldozers were going to destroy civilian homes.
* She believed the Israeli Military was planning to demolish homes on the day Rachel was killed because the Israeli Military had been demolishing homes on the Philadelphi Corridor in the days and weeks prior, and because they had already begun to demolish a house earlier that day by damaging its porch.
* She had spoken with many Palestinian families in the area where Rachel was killed whose homes had been demolished by the Israeli Military.
* She believed the bulldozer driver who killed Rachel could see her.
* She described her view of her work with ISM as promoting peace for the whole region.
The home Rachel Corrie was protecting, that of Dr. Samir Nasrallah, was in fact demolished by the Israeli Military later that year.
And now I must sleep, as I'm sure little Z. will be up again soon. Good night & good morning to you all, and take care,
jon.
UPDATE:
Joan is in the ICU and has been intubated. She is facing a serious uphill climb, and literal multiple system failures. If her immune system doesn't respond soon, it could be bad. Thank you again for all your kind words and support.