Rafah, Palestine, The Rachel Corrie Cultural Center for Children and Youth Commemoration Vigil March 16, 2013 (Photo: Joe Catron)
On Saturday, Palestinian children held a vigil in Rafah to commemorate the death of American activist Rachel Corrie in the Gaza Strip border town a decade ago.
Rafah, Palestine, The Rachel Corrie Cultural Center for Children and Youth Commemoration Vigil March 16, 2013 (Photo: Joe Catron)
Rafah, Palestine, The Rachel Corrie Cultural Center for Children and Youth Commemoration Vigil March 16, 2013 (Photo: Joe Catron)
Corrie was crushed by a Caterpillar bulldozer while attempting to block its use by the Israeli army to demolish a Rafah home on March 16, 2003. Rafah’s Rachel Corrie Cultural Center for Children and Youth, named after her by the Union of Health Work Committees, holds an annual vigil on March 16. This year the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, founded by her parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, organized similar commemorations worldwide to mark the tenth anniversary.
Rafah, Palestine, The Rachel Corrie Cultural Center for Children and Youth Commemoration Vigil March 16, 2013 (Photo: Joe Catron)
Rafah, Palestine, The Rachel Corrie Cultural Center for Children and Youth Commemoration Vigil March 16, 2013 (Photo: Joe Catron)
Twelve-year old Heba Saqir read a letter to US President Barack Obama, due in Tel Aviv, asking that the president “sincerely speak out against military occupation, demand an end to the siege, don’t send more guns to Israel, and don’t oppose our unity. Please don’t empower those who have tormented my family and me for so long.”
Obama has publicly equated his own children with (1) Jewish Israeli children, and (2) the black youngster in a mutually disputed crime of self-defense with a non-black guy.
It’s telling, isn’t it? He uses his kids to score political points–definitely not above that sort of thing, so it’s good to know what triggers his (sincere or crocodile?) tears. Either way, isn’t it instructive?
Where’d they get the signs from?
Sweet. Rachel Corrie – a proper American hero.
The very last thing on Obama’s mind will be the plight of the children of Rafah. As a matter of fact they’ll be non-existant in his mind. Let’s not forget his pathetic reaction to the hundreds of children being slaughtered in Gaza during Cast Lead. Lots of children have been slaughtered under his watch though; but Obama lives in a sanitized world.
Of course, these children should address him nonetheless; his conscience deserves no peace. I hope it keeps him up at night.
for Rachel
https://vimeo.com/48436423