So as not to forget Rachel Corrie

By: Ghadeer El-Omari

Editor of PCHR’s Al-Mentar Newsletter

She was a normal American girl. That is how Rachel Corrie looked like to those who saw her. She was a tall, thin, blonde, with fair complexion. The residents of Rafah who knew her closely during the time she spend with them in 2003 described her as “a very calm person.”

The children we met in the areas where Rachel went daily to support Palestinians frowned upon our question, “Do you remember Rachel Corrie?”

One of the children looked at me with a sharp disapproving glare and said, “She died for our cause. Are we supposed to forget her?” Another child quickly added, “Rachel did not die. She is living inside us.”

Rachel’s home was not America, despite her US passport. Her home was humanity whom she was determined to defend at the cost of her life.

Five years ago, specifically on 16 March 2003, Rachel Corrie stood wearing her phosphoric suit with a loudspeaker in hand. She challenged the Israeli bulldozer intent on destroying a Palestinian house in Rafah. She was determined to challenge the bulldozer to the end. She stood in its way to prevent the demolition of the house. But the driver didn’t care about Rachel. He continued to advance and intentionally killed her.

Corrie left her hometown of Olympia and headed to Rafah after joining the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She chose to come to refugee camps in the Gaza Strip to witness the suffering of the Palestinian people, and to see what was really happening. In a letter to her mother on 27 February 2003, Rachel wrote, “Coming here is one of the better things I’ve ever done.”

The few weeks Rachel spent in Rafah before she was killed witnessed several incidents that she documented in several letters to her mother. In the letter mentioned-above to her mother, Rachel talked about one of the incidents she witnessed, saying, “I watched a father lead his two tiny children, holding his hands, out into the sight of tanks and a sniper tower and bulldozers and Jeeps because he thought his house was going to be exploded. It was our mistake in translation that caused him to think it was his house that was being exploded. I was terrified to think that this man felt it was less of a risk to walk out in view of the tanks with his kids than to stay in his house. I was really scared that they were all going to be shot. This father walking out with his two little kids just (was) looking very sad.”

She continued, saying, “I really can’t believe that something like this can happen in the world without a bigger outcry about it. It really hurts me, again, like it has hurt me in the past, to witness how awful we can allow the world to be.”

Khaled Nasrallah, the owner of the house Rachel died defending was unable to speak about her despite the passing of the years. After a long silence, he said, “Words cannot describe the respect and appreciation I have for Rachel. She gave her life to defend our house and the noble concept we believed in, the concept of a home and a homeland.” He added, “She lived with us through long and cruel periods of suffering. She experienced different forms of aggression against our person and property that we are subjected to on a daily basis. Rachel was in solidarity with us; and she expressed her rejection of injustice and cruelty against us because we’re Palestinian. We will remain faithful to this human being who gave her life to protect us and our home. She succeeded in turning world attention to our problem and to the continuous suffering we live in.”

In a media interview, Rachel described what was happening in the Gaza Strip, saying that it is a systematic Israeli method aiming to destroy the Palestinians’ ability to survive and continue life.

Rachel was scared; but she did not for a moment imagine that the danger would amount to her death. In a letter dated 28 February, Rachel said, “When I am with Palestinian friends I tend to be somewhat less horrified than when I am trying to act in a role of human rights observer.”

Throughout her stay in Rafah, Rachel showed great sympathy and fear for Palestinians. Nidal, who is now 15 years old, has memories of himself and his friends with her. He was only 10 years old at the time. He talked about her, saying, “She was always worried about us. We were not afraid of bullets because we were used to them. But every time she heard bullets, she insisted on pushing us towards protection in one place or another. She thought we were living in unimaginable fear. And she always tried to relieve this fear. She once told me as we were playing and joking that she was surprised by out ability to laugh and continue life despite all we’re facing. I still remember her words. I will never forget her.”

Rachel’s mother, Cindy, said that Rachel believed that Palestine was a source of hope for activists all over the world. She added that Rachel was always there to help people; and that she gave her life to protect people who were unable to protect themselves. Cindy said that she is proud of Rachel because she died fulfilling a humanitarian mission. She was proud of her for living true to the concepts she believed in.

In her letter of 27 February to her mother, Rachel wrote, “When I come back from Palestine, I probably will have nightmares and constantly feel guilty for not being here, but I can channel that into more work.”

Rachel was planning to do more work to support Palestinians, even after leaving Palestine. But she did not know that the occupation will put an end to her plans by killing her for simply being a human being defending a just cause she believed in.

Rachel thought that she would feel guilty for leaving Palestine. Today, five years after her murder with the murderer free, the guilt that must be felt is that over silence over her murder.