Tag: Rachel Corrie

Travesties of justice

Posted on by kathiemm

By guest author Dr. Dahlia Wasfi

On August 27, 2012, the US Marine Corps announced “non-judicial administrative punishments” for several Marines who were videotaped urinating on three dead bodies in Afghanistan.

Rachel Corrie crushed by a bulldozer
Rachel Corrie crushed by a bulldozer. Photo by Joe Carr, used under CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Such minor punishments can include “a reprimand, reductions in rank, forfeiting pay, extra duties or being restricted to a military base.” These Marines will not face criminal charges for their deviant behavior which could be considered a war crime.

While the dead victims have often been identified in the media as Taliban fighters, I have not seen any evidence for this allegation or any justification for their deaths.

On August 28, 2012, the travesty of justice continued with an Israeli court’s ruling in the civil lawsuit brought by the family of American activist Rachel Corrie.

Rachel was a member of the International Solidarity Movement in the city of Rafah in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza. With her colleagues on March 16, 2003, she was practicing civil disobedience to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes.

Rachel was crushed to death by two Israeli soldiers commandeering a 60-ton, D9 militarized Caterpillar bulldozer.

This week, the Corrie family’s case charging that the Israeli military was responsible for Rachel’s death was dismissed. As reported by The Guardian, the verdict stated that Israel “could not be held responsible because its army was engaged in a combat operation.”

This ruling blatantly contradicts international humanitarian law that was created to protect civilians during armed conflict.

Rachel’s mother, Cindy Corrie, pursues justice for her daughter and for all human rights defenders and those suffering under oppression. The night before the verdict, she said:  “Craig [Rachel’s father] and I have been so blessed because Rachel gave us this opportunity to focus here. There’s no end to the work that can be done around this issue, and other peace and justice issues.…”

Since justice is lacking from the institutions created to serve it, we must continue our work on whatever issues are dearest to our hearts.

As long as we are without justice, we will be without peace.

For more information on Rachel and the Corries’ work, please visit:

Dahlia Wasfi

To follow my heart and find my voice (Liberate THIS, Part 16)

Posted on by kathiemm

[The final installment in a continuing series by guest author Dr. Dahlia Wasfi.]

Rachel Corrie peace vigil
Rachel Corrie peace vigil. Image used under CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Rachel Corrie literally stood up for what she believed on March 16, 2003. She stood before the Israeli military who came to Rafah in armored bulldozers to level homes.

With her courageous stand, she equated her Western life with the lives of the Palestinian families behind her. Perhaps her actions were an affront to the occupation soldiers staring down from their sixty ton vehicle. Perhaps her actions inspired them to crush her to death.

Her actions inspired me to follow my heart and find my voice. To me, her courage showed hope and strength.

With Rachel’s example before me, my life has directed me to know my family. I traveled thousands of miles to go see them and know them.

But my work as an activist has also taught me that I don’t only have family in Iraq. My relatives are everywhere:  in Afghanistan; in Pakistan; in Kashmir; in Vietnam; in Walter Reed Army Medical Center; in Arlington Cemetery; in every village and city around the globe.

You have relatives there, too.

My medical career is on hold so that I can focus on calling for the immediate, unconditional end of war and occupation on behalf of all of my family.

What would you do for your family?

What will you do?

She’s inspiring our youth

Posted on by kathiemm

by guest author San’aa Sultan


If you are looking for a role model, then look no further because we have Dahlia Wasfi.

The first time I met Dahlia, she called herself “Offkey” in comparison to the British lyricist Lowke, but I can tell you quite proudly that she was not in any way “Offkey.” In fact she inspired more people in that one room that one day than I can count, because I watched those people blossom once she left the UK for home.

If you are reading this, then you are actively searching for something, peace I’d guess. Dahlia is definitely an activist, but  like Rachel Corrie, she is more than an activist: she is a model  human being. The woman behind the saying “No justice, no peace” does all that she does through a love for her people and an anger created by the world’s silence while oppressors massacred human beings all over the world.

My own struggle began around about the time that I found out about Dahlia’s existence and since that day I have been hugely influenced by her because of her humanity and courage.

Dahlia told me what her vision of the redefinition of “Ladylike” was going to be and I fashioned her ideas into two poems, Lady Like and Ladylike Part Two.

Her vision inspired me to act. As a young person, I sincerely believe that we need more people like Dahlia to lead and influence our youth. Most needed are female leaders in our struggle for justice;  whilst I have come across many, none has matched Dahlia’s sincerity and humility.

 

Something about Rachel (Liberate THIS, Part 8)

Posted on by kathiemm

A continuing series by guest author Dr. Dahlia Wasfi

I knew that Palestinians—and many other indigenous peoples for that matter—were dying every day in their struggles for justice.  I didn’t want to be racist and mark Rachel Corrie’s death because she was American, while ignoring others who died because they were the “wrong” nationality.

There was actually another young man shot and killed by the Israeli Army that day in Gaza, within hours of Rachel’s murder.  No news of the loss of his life broke in the papers of USA Today.


But there was something about Rachel and her story that mystified me and captured my attention the way no one else had before.  The journey of the next few years would help me decipher why her courage, her life, and her death were so powerful to me.  It would take a while for me to understand enough about myself to be able to comprehend why she touched my heart so.

In the short term, however, I considered the bizarre contrast of that day.  The headline could have read, “23-year-old, all-American woman visited—and was murdered in—Rafah in Gaza, Palestine, while 31-year-old failed physician surfs the Internet at home.”

The incongruity made me wonder: if Rachel could travel thousands of miles to learn about people she didn’t even know, then maybe I should go see my family whom I hadn’t seen in almost 27 years.