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On the 8th Anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s Stand in Gaza A Message from Craig and Cindy Corrie, March 16, 2011

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Written by Cindy and Craig Corrie Cindy and Craig Corrie
Published: 16 March 2011 16 March 2011

 

On the 8th Anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s Stand in Gaza
A Message from Craig and Cindy Corrie, March 16, 2011
On Wednesday, March 16th, we mark the eighth anniversary of our daughter Rachel’s stand in Rafah, Gaza, to protect the right of a Gazan family to be safe and secure in their home and the rights of all Palestinians to self-determination, freedom, equality, and security in the same measure as their Israeli neighbors.
Here in Olympia, Washington – our hometown and Rachel’s – our family, the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, and our community will mark this anniversary with an event that emphasizes three components: community-building, education, and action. Strengthening community connections was important to Rachel when she lived and worked here in Olympia, but, also, beyond, as she embraced the world as her community.
As we pursue a more just global community, we must arm ourselves with solid information and knowledge. Rachel believed this profoundly and emphasized in her writing from Gaza the importance of seeking and communicating the facts and doing so without exaggeration. And it is not enough for us to think and talk. We must, also, act. Indeed, it is because of Rachel’s action on March 16, 2003, that we pause to mark this day.
As we consider where Rachel would want us to focus now, Gaza still remains high on the list. The UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the number of weekly civilian injuries in Gaza was recently higher than it has been for any week since May 2010. The number includes injuries to five children. During the week of February 20-26, imports from Israel into Gaza were only 36 percent of the average amount that entered weekly before Israel imposed its blockade of Gaza in 2007. Exports and movement of people in and out of the Strip remain severely restricted. Collective punishment of the 1.7 million residents of Gaza by the Israeli government and military continues. We must, therefore, continue to focus on improving their situation and ending the blockade and siege under which they have suffered for so many years.


File:Rachel corrie.jpeg

AIPAC's Newest Strategy

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Written by MJ Rosenberg MJ Rosenberg
Published: 15 March 2011 15 March 2011

There are three reasons why monitoring AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is a valuable use of time for anyone following events in the Middle East.

The first is that AIPAC faithfully reflects the positions of the Netanyahu government (actually it often telegraphs them before Netanyahu does).

The second is that AIPAC's policies provide advance notice of the positions that will, not by coincidence, be taken by the United States Congress.

And third, AIPAC provides a reliable indicator of future policies of the Obama administration, which gets its "guidance" both from AIPAC itself and from Dennis Ross, former head of AIPAC's think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and now the president's top adviser on Middle East issues.

Read more: AIPAC's Newest Strategy

Why is Israel aid exempt?

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Written by MJ Rosenberg MJ Rosenberg
Published: 08 March 2011 08 March 2011


As US fiscal conservatives cut food programmes for poor children, military aid for Israel is left untouched.

US military aid should be conditional on Israel stopping settlement expansion, writer says [GALLO/GETTY]

Once upon a time, social security was considered the "third rail" of American politics. The "third rail" is the train track that carries the high-voltage power; touching it means instant death.

The "third rail" metaphor has for decades been applied to social security, a government program so popular with the American public that proposing any changes in it would mean political death to the politician.

No more. Although social security is as popular as ever, politicians routinely propose changes in the program — including privatisation and means testing. While the proposals usually go nowhere, and rightly so, the politicians who support them live to fight another day. Today, with those massive deficits and the astronomical national debt, not even social security is sacrosanct.

Few, if any, government programs are.

But US aid to Israel is. In fact, the $3bn Israel aid package is the new third rail of American politics: touch it and die. It is also the one program that liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans and tea partiers all agree should not sustain even a dollar in cuts.

Actually, that is something of a mis-statement. These various parties and factions do not agree that the $3bn Israel aid package is sacred. They just say that they do because a powerful lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), makes clear to them that touching the aid package will mean big trouble for them in the next election.

Read more: Why is Israel aid exempt?

‘Light a Candle for Gaza’ –the rabbis’ piece the Washington Post refused to publish without major changes

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Written by Rabbi Brant Rosen and Rabbi Alissa Wise Rabbi Brant Rosen and Rabbi Alissa Wise
Published: 03 March 2011 03 March 2011

A week ago Mondoweiss posted an important story (related by Felice Gelman) about two rabbis whose Op-Ed on Gaza was supposed to go online in an hour's time at a major newspaper last Hanukah when the authors were presented with a lot of Israeli-tilted questions about the piece. And the piece never ran.

Readers, some rabbis are very brave! Rabbi Brant Rosen got in touch with us to say that the piece was his and Alissa Wise's. And Wise agreed that we could use her name, too. Below, Rosen offers the piece, and then the newspaper's edits! Maybe the editor in question will offer his or her story about the censorship next?

Alissa Wise and I were the rabbis in question.

Read more on Mondoweiss

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