Even though his daughter wasn’t there, Craig Corrie spent his Father’s Day honoring her memory by helping a family from the other side of the world.

Corrie’s daughter, Rachel, was killed by an Israeli-driven bulldozer while trying to keep a Palestinian home from being demolished more than two years ago in the Gaza Strip. He and his wife, Cindy, spoke Sunday in Tacoma to raise money for the reconstruction of razed Palestinian buildings.

“It’s really an outgrowth of what Rachel envisioned and what she believed,” Cindy Corrie said of the couple’s fund-raising efforts with The Rebuilding Alliance, a California-based activist organization that helps Palestinians restore their demolished homes and schools.

The Corries’ stop at the Center for Spiritual Living, 206 N. J St., was part of a seven-state tour to raise $48,000 to build a new house for Khaled and Samah Nasrallah, whose home the 23-year-old student at The Evergreen State College was standing in front of when she was killed March 16, 2003, in the city of Rafah.

The tour also is a chance to call attention to average Palestinians’ role in the conflict with Israel, organizers said.

The Nasrallahs, who had lived in the home with their three daughters and Khaled’s older brother and his family, joined the Corries on Sunday. They recalled how Israelis eventually forced them from their home seven months after Rachel Corrie’s death, and the difficulties of raising three daughters in the southern Gaza Strip, where violence is a constant.

“I never knew if she is going to come back alive,” Samah Nasrallah said of sending her 5-year-old daughter, Mariam, off to school.

Though the Corries are moving forward by doing work in their daughter’s name, they are still seeking answers about her death, Craig Corrie said.

In March, the couple filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the state of Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces and the Israeli Defense Ministry. Craig Corrie said the goal is to get a more thorough investigation into his daughter’s death and to force officials to turn over relevant documents to the U.S. government.

The Corries also have sued Caterpillar Inc., maker of the bulldozer that killed their daughter, saying the company violated international law by knowing their machines were being used by Israelis to destroy Palestinian homes.

An investigation into the incident by the Israeli army found Rachel Corrie’s death was accidental, and officials have said the bulldozer’s driver could not see her.

Her parents have rejected the argument that their daughter’s death was an accident.

While he waits for definite answers about how his daughter was killed, Craig Corrie said he and his wife will seek “restorative justice” by helping displaced Palestinians build new homes, and highlighting their perspective on the conflict.

“That seems so much more healing for me,” he said.

Sunday’s gathering raised $1,200, which brings the fund-raising total to about half of what organizers said they need to rebuild the Nasrallahs’ home.

Paul Sand: 253-597-8660

paul.sand@thenewstribune.com