October 1, 2003:
Mohammed's younger brother
Issam was seriously injured
and was taken to the hospital
about a week ago. His leg
was amputated and he is
undergoing medical treatment.

October 18, 2003:
Mohammad's younger brother,
Hussam [17 yrs old], was killed
by the Israeli army today.

Hussam was sitting at home
when he was shot in the face,
chest, back, legs. He had
nothing to do with any violent
or even political movement.

Hussam's crime is that he was
a Palestinian.

— The Webmaster

Rachel Corrie: The Beautiful Face of America

http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2005/0505010.html

Washington Report, May/June 2005, pages 10-11 (sidebar)

March 16, 2003 was like any afternoon in Rafah’s Block O near the razed border with Egypt. Huge American-made Caterpillar bulldozers were threatening civilian homes, while a group of peace activists from the International Solidarity Movement wearing bright orange vests and shouting through bullhorns asked the Israeli army driver to observe international law and spare the civilian dwellings. As she had done many times before, Rachel Corrie, 23 years old, took her turn directly in front of the bulldozer. That day, however, as her friends screamed in horror, the driver, the sharp blade of his machine lowered, drove over her. Then, without raising the blade, he reversed the machine over her buried body as her ISM comrades raced to dig her out.

Screams, shouts, sirens—all of Rafah turned upside down as word spread that one of the “internationals” had been grievously injured. “No, no, it’s impossible they ran her over!” cried ambulance driver Saed Awadllah—but Rachel’s broken and lacerated body proved the “impossible” had happened. Dr. Samir Nasrallah, whose house she had been trying to protect, rushed to assist. Her only words before passing out were, “I think my back is broken,” and she died before reaching the hospital.

“She was a great example for me and my family,” Dr. Nasrallah said about Rachel. “Her death left a terrible emptiness in our hearts. When the Israeli army crosses the line to killing unarmed internationals, surely they kill Palestinians with even greater impunity.”

Throughout Rafah, Corrie was already known and loved for her work in protecting water wells and homes on the border—and especially for her work with children. Her e-mails to her friends and family are eloquent descriptions of the daily war crimes suffered by the people of Rafah. Her body was still en route out of Gaza when shahada (martyr) posters, showing the brutal slash on her face and the bruising around her eyes, appeared on virtually every wall in Rafah. Three days after she was killed the United States invaded Iraq, and hundreds of thousands of Americans were joined by people of conscience worldwide protesting an unjust war. The Palestinian ambassador to Cuba hailed Rachel Corrie as “the beautiful face of America.”

Rachel died without achieving her goal of learning to speak fluent Arabic, and the peace and justice she sought for Palestine is only marginally closer. But her smile, her laugh, her willingness to share the daily dangers of Rafah’s people transcended any language barrier. She was the first international to be killed in Rafah—but not the last. In the following two months, an Israeli soldier shot British photographer Thomas Hurndall as he was moving children out of the line of fire, and British cameraman James Miller, holding a white flag, was killed by Israeli tank fire.

Two years after her death, justice remains as elusive for Rachel Corrie as it does for the people of Rafah. One would think the Israeli government would spare no effort to learn how an unarmed citizen of the U.S., its great friend and ally, had been brutally killed by its army. Instead, despite eyewitness accounts to the contrary, after a cursory investigation, it ruled Corrie’s death “accidental.” To this day, her family has been unable to see the entire Israeli report, a situation the U.S. government accepts without protest.

In Rafah, the second anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s death was marked by children gathering to light candles and plant olive trees in her honor. As the intifada ground on, Israeli authorities refused re-entry to all the ISM volunteers who left Gaza to renew visas, and kept new international volunteers out. But Rachel’s example has inspired even more Americans to work for justice for Palestine. Although she died before she had her own family, her own children, Rachel has earned a lasting place in the hearts of her huge “second family” in Rafah.

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