Neal Ahern in Israel on Observing Rachel's Anniversary at Erez Checkpoint

On Tuesday March 16th, we marked the anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie by heading down to Erez checkpoint, which is where you go to get into Gaza, or not get in to Gaza which is how it has been for the past 4 months or so.  There were about 20 internationals and about 7 news organizations and lots of border police.  There were 2 of us from Olympia, Jake and myself, so Jake read a speech about Rachel, the community of Olympia and the situation in Rafah and Gaza currently, and i read excerpts from Rachel's amazing emails to give those of us who did not know her, the opportunity to hear some of her thoughtful insights about her time in Rafah.  Afterwards, we had a die in where many folks wore t shirts with different words on them representing the many effected Palestinian people and issues as a result of the occupation.  we were all splashed in red paint by a man wearing an occupation shirt and being led around by a person in an American shirt and a person in an Israeli shirt.   We arose as flowers were placed on our chests which we then, one by one, deposited on a letter I had written on posterboard to Rachel.  It was very emotional for me, and i am sure for others, but the event was very nice and went very well.  For pictures, go to ism website at www.palsolidarity.org

 

The following evening, Wednesday, some Israeli groups had a memorial for Rachel in Jerusalem at the church of Notre Dame.  I was asked to speak about Rachel at the event and of course I did.  I again shared a lot of her writing to the crowd, which included a person who works at the us consulate, which was very good to see.  I managed not to cry while reading, which was remarkable because I cried all day while working on the speech and trying to select pieces to read since they were all so wonderful.  By the end, many people were crying or sniffling, and then a young Israeli woman read a poem she wrote for/about Rachel and the event was over.  It was a moving experience to say the least, but I am glad it is over now, as the past few days were quite draining.