Rachel Corrie: Slated for Demolition
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Please Click Link Here for Original 2003 Radio Broadcast of Amber Poole’s Poem in Honor of Rachel Corrie
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HEADLINE: Monday, March 17, 2003
Local Protestor dies in Gaza. Writing from Rafah.
Rachel Corrie: Slated for Demolition
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Rachel Corrie, Olympian of Peace
In a bright red jacket
Neon bright
Red bright
Blood red bright
Hey there, Solider of Destruction
Do you see me?
Blood red bright.
Rachel Corrie: Slated for Demolition
Olympian of Peace
Hey there, Soldier of Death
Soldier resting your gun on a lie
Do you hear me?
Rachel Corrie: Slated for Demolition
Do you think you can repress my name
Because you crush me
Mute me
Demolish me
Like you do the houses of Palestine
Like you do the Olive Groves, Lemon Groves, Orange Groves, Palm Groves
A terrorist in our midst
A patch of lavender reaches for the sky
Slated for Demolition
Rachel Corrie, murdered with permission by the blade of US tax dollars
At the vortex of American ignorance
Under the boot of Israeli
Occupation
Rachel Corrie
Murdered by the soldiers of a client state
Cries that reach the senators ear
Northwest, D.C., Gulf Coast, L.A., Uptown, Downtown, Crosstown
Cries that reach the senators ear.
Rachel Corrie
Murdered by the soldiers of a client state
The sense of urgency
Resolution 111
The shock, the outrage, the indignation
Northwest, D.C., Gulf Coast, L.A., Uptown, Downtown, Crosstown
Cries that reach the senators ear.
One of our own murdered
No, wait
A victim
No, not a victim
A martyr
Outrageous
A perpetrator, yes
The machinery of the State language begins
To spin
Headline: Monday, March 17
Misfortune in Gaza
A bulldozer accidently runs over local girl
Soldier dismissed of all charges
Hey there, soldier of the lie.
This was my Pilgrim’s path
But you cut me off
With a sparkle in your eye and a smirk on your face
You cut me off!
Like you cut off water, food, light, health, dignity and basic human rights to the children of Palestine.
Rachel Corrie – Ambassador, Envoy, Delegate, Diplomat
Olympian of Peace, for the children who bleed from the tank shell holes in the walls of their homes
Rachel Corrie, Olympian of Peace
For the children who scream
Where is my mother?
My father?
My family?
My friends?
For the children who thirst for water,
Forced to dip their cup in a well run dry
From the devastation of an illegal
Occupation.
Hey there, Soldier
The face of God is on me now.
I am Rachel Corrie.
Slated for demolition, Olympian of Peace
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On Sunday, March 16, 2003 Rachel Corrie was murdered by an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) soldier who crushed her with a 60-tonne Caterpillar D9R armored bulldozer. She had travelled to Gaza, Rafah from Washington State, on an independent study program where she joined the ISM (International Solidarity Movement). She was standing on a mound of dirt, trying to prevent a house demolition, wearing a brightly colored, orange, fluorescent safety jacket when the driver of the CAT ran over her, killing her near instantly.
Before the ambulance arrived; she died within twenty minutes of her injuries.
Amber Poole, along with other Houstonians, joined Rachel’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, in solidarity, to honor the life and martyrdom of Rachel Corrie.
Amber Poole wrote this poem which she read to Cindy and Craig Corrie on the Arab Voices Program, Pacifica Radio. Houston, 2003.
From an article in The Independent, March 17, 2023:
Before setting of, she wrote: “We are all born and someday we’ll all die. Most likely to some degree alone.”
She added: “What if our aloneness isn’t a tragedy? What if our aloneness is what allows us to speak the truth without being afraid? What if our aloneness is what allows us to adventure – to experience the world as a dynamic presence – as a changeable, interactive thing?”
Rachel Corrie (1979-2003)