[Peace] Palestinian Solidarity needed now (fwd)

[parenti susan rose]

Lori Blewett is a long-time friend, who taught at the School for Designing
a Society, was co-ordinator for the Artist-in-Residence Program at Unit
One for many years, and was part of the Performer's Workshop Ensemble.

She currently lives in Olympia, and teaches at Evergreen.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 00:39:39 -0800
From: Lori Blewett <blewettl at evergreen.edu>
To: Jeff Machota <jmachota at shout.net>, manni at snafu.de,
     Robert Naiman <naiman at prairienet.org>, kwinter <kwinter at staff.uiuc.edu>,
     chyn at onthejob.net, l-haber at uiuc.edu, ide at prairienet.org,
     enslin at prairienet.org, mi-silva at uiuc.edu, Achoo at Well.com,
     sparenti at staff.uiuc.edu, myshkins at hotmail.com
Subject: Palestinian Solidarity needed now

Statement from Rachel Corrie's communityDear friends and allies in Champaign-Urbana,

I am writing to you from Olympia Washington, a city about the same size as C-U with roughly the same level of political activism. As we demonstrate against the US invasion of Iraq and mourn for the Iraqi people, our community is also grieving the loss of fellow activist Rachel Corrie. As you have no doubt heard, Rachel was killed by the Israeli military while engaged in international non-violent peace work in the Gaza Strip.

The US war against Iraq will likely be used as cover for heightened civil rights abuses in Gaza and possibly re-occupation of the area (which is why Rachel chose to go there three months ago). We are calling upon activists around the country to keep this in mind during the next few weeks.  We ask that peace groups demand an independent criminal investigation into Rachel's death and an end to the US transfer of arms to Israel along with demands for halting the war against Iraq. There are many ways that one can articulate a link between the invasion of Iraq and Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories. Rachel would have wanted that her death be understood and described in this context.

Rachel's decision to go to Rafah brought to mind similar actions taken by activists in C-U whose awareness of their government's complicity with violence in the Middle East compelled them to join international witness and peace-keeping organizations in the region. Rachel murder, and there is really do doubt that it was murder, signals a new level of Israeli indifference to international calls for peace and justice. Such a blatant attack on an American would not have happen a few years ago, probably not even a few months ago. This particular killing may not have been authorized by Military command, but increasing violence directed toward the Palestinian people and their International Solidarity Movement allies certainly has been.

I worked with Rachel in two organizations, a multi-issue peace and justice group that formed after 9/11 and a Palestinian solidarity group that I co-founded in 2001. Rachel was the kind of young activist that every political group hopes to have among its members. She was thoughtful, caring, articulate, and dedicated. She worked to educate others about connections between sexism, racism, and other forms of injustice in the US, and US sponsored injustice abroad. After the war against Afghanistan many people dropped out of the movement, but Rachel stayed with it and became a primary organizer of the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace. Our sense of loss is huge.

Below is a general letter we are sending to activists nationally and internationally who are asking how they might best respond to Rachel's murder. I'm also sending you some attachments and websites offering information that was misreported or left out of most media coverage of the killing. Please distribute and use this note and related materials as you see fit.

I wish you all the best in your efforts to counteract the patriotic jingoism and media censorship that I'm sure are as evident in Champaign-Urbana as they are in Olympia during this time of war.

Yours in solidarity,

Lori Blewett   (Urbana resident and activist from 1982-1998)

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STATEMENT FROM THE OLYMPIA ACTIVIST COMMUNITY OVER THE DEATH OF RACHEL CORRIE

As Rachel Corrie's community, we are devastated and outraged over the death and the circumstances surrounding it. We are calling for justice in Rachel's killing, while simultaneously keeping our focus on the Palestinian struggle for human rights and self-determination. Rachel was in the Gaza Strip to maintain this focus. The Bush Administration's attack on the Iraqi people is hours away, yet the Palestinians are in grave danger from Sharon's government, as international attention is directed elsewhere.

Locally in Olympia there will be a memorial in Rachel's honor on Saturday, March 22, 3 PM, at The Evergreen State College. All are welcome to attend. We hope that this will be an international day of mourning in which communities across the world can hold their own services.

We have received several requests for a call for a nationally organized direct action in response to Rachel's killing. Out of respect for Rachel's family--which has always been supportive of her--we will hold back from most plans for large-scale national actions until certain issues in the immediate future are resolved.

However, her family is currently working with Representative Brian Baird for a resolution calling for an independent investigation into Rachel's killing and for measures to be taken to further curtail Israeli violence. Please call your representatives to support this resolution when it comes.

Amnesty International has condemned Rachel's killing and has called for an independent investigation into her death, as well as calling for "a suspension of US transfers to Israel of military equipment, including bulldozers, which have been used to commit human rights abuses." We must also revisit the call for international monitors, often proposed in the UN Security Council but always vetoed by the United States.

Communities have already made extensive plans for the day of and the day after the war starts. We ask that Rachel's death and the struggle of the Palestinians remain central to these protests, actions and vigils. The Olympia community has planned a vigil for 5 PM on the day the war begins. If you have an Israeli consulate in your city, we suggest actions here.

The simplest and easiest thing that everyone can do at once is to wear a white armband in honor of Rachel and the thousands of Palestinians that have died in this intifada.

Follow the SUSTAIN campaign to hold the Caterpillar Corporation accountable for its manufacture and sale of military-grade armored bulldozers, which are designed not for construction but solely for destruction. More information can be found at the SUSTAIN website: www.sustaincampaign.org

We are going to publish all of Rachel's dispatches from Gaza in our local paper. We will make them available for everyone else to do the same. We need to keep the media accountable, demanding an accurate account of her death as well as continual coverage of the Palestinian situation during the Iraq war.

We want to make it clear that Rachel knew what she was doing. She made an informed responsible choice to go to Gaza. The day of her murder, she was participating in a routine action, which was considered by ISM activists to be comparatively low risk. She was responding appropriately and nonviolently to Israeli military violence, as peace witnesses had done hundreds of times before.

In Rafah, Rachel was not only an International Solidarity Movement activist: she was dedicated to establishing a sister-city relationship between her hometown of Olympia and Rafah. We dedicate ourselves to carrying this vision of Rachel's into being. The Olympia community is now forever tied to Rafah. Through pen-pals, delegations, and community education, we will make it clear to our community the reason for Rachel's death and that of thousands of other Palestinians. We invite others to create sister city relationships with other communities in the Occupied Territories.

Rachel was an incredibly dedicated community organizer who poured her life and energy into her local and global community. She consistently worked to establish connections between various groups working for justice. As an Olympia native she was known and loved by so many; her work was focused on bringing together the labor, human rights, environmental and artistic communities. With creativity and joy, she made everyone feel special and blessed to know her. We are amazed by her fortitude, wisdom, passion and humility. We carry on her spirit, new flames alight, as we demand peace and justice in Rachel's name.

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For further information in Olympia, you may contact Phan Nguyen at nguyenp at evergreen.edu  or Lori Blewett at blewettl at evergreen.edu

Joe Smith in Rafah is available to speak to the media. He witnessed the events in the killing of Rachel and was the one who took all the photographs. His number is 972 67 628 507.

Cards and condolences to the family can be mailed to:

Rachel Corrie and Family
PO Box 12149
Olympia, WA 98508

Rachel's parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, have also made an email available for condolences: rachelsmessage at the-corries.com .

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Statement from the parents of Rachel Corrie
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1270.shtml

Four eyewitness accounts of Rachel's murder
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1263.shtml

Amnesty International Condemns Killing of Rachel Corrie
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2003/israel03172003.html

Olympia City Council: Proclamation in honor of Rachel Corrie
http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/council/Resolutions/Rachel%20Corrie%20proclamation.pdf

Letters from Rachel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,27
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,916885,00.html

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White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111
president at whitehouse.gov

US Embassy in Israel, American Citizen Services
After hours/emergency number: (972) 03-519-7551

Israeli Embassy
3514 International Dr. NW
Washington, DC 20008
Tel: (202)364-5590

U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Tel: (202)-647-6575 or
http://contact-us.state.gov