Rachel Corrie – Page 3 – Engaging Peace

A continuing series by guest author Dr. Dahlia Wasfi

Israeli bulldozer — Israel Defense Forces armored bulldozer. Image used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

I searched the Internet for everything that I could find out about Rachel Corrie—who she was, where she came from, what brought her to challenge bulldozers in Gaza.

(And I wondered, my God, what kind of courage does that take? I couldn’t even muster the strength to stand up to bigoted doctors in my workplace.)

I found a picture of her. She was so beautiful: all-American-looking, blonde, blue-eyed young woman. She was thin and beautiful, like a dancer. She even looked natural and confident in the standard over-the-shoulder shot which every high school portrait photographer makes you pose. Most of us look awkward. Rachel’s picture looked elegant.

The outlines of most human beings are dwarfed by the hulking form of a D-9 Caterpillar bulldozer, armored and used by the Israeli army for the destruction of land and homes[1]. Rachel’s frame, in particular, appeared so delicate in the pictures I could find.

She was someone who would never experience racial discrimination based on her looks, the way I felt that I had.

What was she doing in Palestine? Like everything I else I looked at, none of this made any sense whatsoever. This tragedy must be some horrible, horrible mistake.

In the midst of my indignation, I suddenly was struck by self-loathing at what I then perceived to be more internal hypocrisy. Why was I so moved by Rachel Corrie’s death?

[Engaging Peace continues the serialization of Dahlia Wasfi’s book, Liberate THIS.]

After reading the headline, “Crushed to death by a bulldozer,” I thought about someone other than myself for the first time in quite a while. Also for the first time in a while, I felt an emotion other than depression. I felt anger.

Rachel Corrie blocking bulldozer in Gaza — Rachel Corrie attempts to block Israeli bulldozer from destroying Palestinian homes. Photo by Joe Carr, released for public use.

Having been completely immersed in news of the imminent attack on Iraq, I felt blindsided by this report that seemed to come out of nowhere. What the hell is going on here? What happened? From the article:

In a matter of months, Rachel Corrie went from the orderly peace movement of this small liberal city [Olympia, Washington] to a deadly world of gunfire, violent political conflict and the bulldozer that crushed her to death.

Crushed to death by a bulldozer? I felt my stomach turn and I tasted nausea. What kind of horrific torture did she endure? My God. What the hell is going on in this miserable, Godforsaken world? Who was she?

Corrie, 23, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, died Sunday in Gaza while trying to stop the bulldozer from tearing down a Palestinian physician’s home.

I sat staring at the monitor, the words of the USA Today article blurring as I tried to make sense of the news. She was so much younger than I. She had no apparent ties to the Arab World. Why was she there? Why was she halfway around the world in Palestine, while I sat in the comforts of the U.S.A.?

Then the crux of the mystery hit me like a slap in the face: Why was SHE dead when I—who wanted to die—was alive and kicking and reading about her passing? The horror was unjust; it was nonsensical; it was illogical. The loss of Corrie, someone I’d never known of until that morning, was just stupid.

I became indignant. I knew I had to do something.

Dr. Dahlia Wasfi

What kind of courage? (Liberate THIS, Part 7)

Crushed to death by a bulldozer (Liberate THIS, Part 6)