I’m proud to stand with Cindy Corrie in this fight

For some lucky people like me, a turning point in life arrives without tragedy. For others, like Cindy and Craig Corrie, it descends as the most horrific waking nightmare: the murder of a child. I’m writing today to pay tribute again to the Corries and their tireless work for justice—and to share with gratitude Cindy’s endorsement of our work at Mondoweiss: “Mondoweiss keeps me and our entire activist community updated and invigorated while allowing people around the world to share how they challenge injustice.”

Cindy says that we helped document her family’s efforts to achieve justice for Rachel:

I’m particularly grateful to Mondoweiss for reporting on our family’s efforts in Israeli courts to establish the Israeli military’s culpability in Rachel’s death. This coverage has not only made us feel supported but has informed many thousands of people about the role of the Israeli judiciary in whitewashing and justifying actions intolerable to any conception of human rights.

As we end 2017 and push to meet our year-end challenge goal (we’re now only about $16,000 away!), I am moved and inspired by Cindy’s generosity in supporting our journalism through both words and funds. If you have already given, thank you. If you haven’t yet, I hope you will join Cindy in donating to keep Mondoweiss delivering needed information and analysis.

While the U.S. invasion of Iraq starting in 2003 has been brutal and violent for its victims, its impact on me was moral and intellectual—through the gradual accretion of facts. As I paid more and more attention, I came to understand that my responsibility as someone with research and writing capacity was to inform as many people as I could of the immense wrongness of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, especially as it affected Palestinians. I experienced this awakening as a calling—one I have done my best to live up to for over a decade here at Mondoweiss with the help of A Thousand Voices for Truth. I am grateful that both here and from other sources, I have continued learning about the human cost of American arrogance—and Israeli rapacity.

That human cost has been paid by Palestinians on the ground and worldwide. And by the Corries, when their daughter Rachel was killed in 2003 by an Israeli army Caterpillar D9 bulldozer in Gaza. Cindy and Craig took up the cause Rachel had embraced, and they have devoted their lives for almost 15 years to the struggle for peace and justice in Palestine. I am honored to stand with them in this fight.

I’ll close by simply quoting Cindy’s thoughtful description of how our reports affect the discourse:

Mondoweiss’s editorial and investigative work lets readers around the world know what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Please join me today in giving to Mondoweiss. We must act together to ensure the continuation of news that sheds light on all who suffer from the violence and brutality visited upon Palestinians, and on all who struggle against it. Support for Mondoweiss is a practical way to work for human rights.

Thank you, Cindy and Craig Corrie. We will do our best to live up to your faith in Mondoweiss. I know that my own work is strengthened every day by your example of dedication and persistence.

=============================================================

P.S. to any of you who didn’t get a chance to watch the video we posted a few days ago: Take a couple minutes to have a look. Even though I see our work every day, I found it overwhelming and inspiring to see this combination of images we’ve published and contributors’ comments.