Monday, March 9

March 16 Remember Rachel Corrie, Remember Gaza


Dear Friends,
March 16th, the 6th anniversary of Rachel Corrie's death, is just a few weeks away.
For those of you who wish to mark the day, there are many resources available.

The Royal Court Theatre (who originally produced My Name Is Rachel Corrie) has released a new play written in response to the attack on Gaza. Seven Jewish Children is a dialogue between adults over the generations about what to tell their children. Playwright Caryl Churchill has indicated that this is an open source document and anyone can stage a production or reading, with the sole caveat that a collection for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) is taken up in lieu of entrance charge.

"Caryl Churchill's 10-minute play was written in response to the recent tragic events in Gaza. It...confirms theatre's ability to react more rapidly than any other art form to global politics....[and] suggests that Israeli children are subject to a barrage of contradictory information about past and present...What she captures, in remarkably condensed poetic form, is the transition that has overtaken Israel, to the point where security has become the pretext for indiscriminate slaughter. Avoiding overt didacticism, her play becomes a heartfelt lamentation for the future generations who will themselves become victims of the attempted military suppression of Hamas." ––Michael Billington, The Guardian

Rachel's Words and Theaters Against War will be co-hosting a reading of the Seven Jewish Children on Monday, March 16th at 8 PM, at the Brecht Forum in Manhattan. Broadway luminary Kathleen Chalfant along with Brian Jones and other special guests will be reading.

Rachel's Words has all of Rachel Corrie's emails from Gaza, translated into 6 languages, on our website. We also have DVD's of Channel 4 London's Dispatches: The Killing Zone. This can also be found online, along with many videos taken recently in Gaza. Erasing the Palestinians of Gaza is a trailer from a production by filmmaker Alberto Arce; he was on the last voyage of the DIGNITY that got into Gaza, and was there during the recent invasion. (The video is in Spanish and Arabic, but easily understood by anyone.)

The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has called for an action to thank President Obama for not including military aid to Israel in the US budget. Rachel's father, Craig Corrie, delivered a message to President Obama in an interview by Laura Flanders on Blink TV. Please read, view and forward! And send us any resources you've found useful in planning your events.

Thank you to all who helped us get computer and video equipment to Rafah, it was successfully delivered and is being used now. We still have expenses to cover and appreciate your continued support.

“…Just want to write to my Mom and tell her that I'm witnessing this chronic, insidious genocide and I'm really scared, and questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of human nature. This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don't think it's an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I also want this to stop. Disbelief and horror is what I feel. Disappointment. I am disappointed that this is the base reality of our world and that we, in fact, participate in it. This is not at all what I asked for when I came into this world. This is not at all what the people here asked for when they came into this world…So when I sound crazy, or if the Israeli military should break with their racist tendency not to injure white people, please pin the reason squarely on the fact that I am in the midst of a genocide which I am also indirectly supporting, and for which my government is largely responsible.” ––Rachel Corrie

In Solidarity,
Rachel's Words
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