The Sophian

Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: Opinions

Media Credit: Courtesy of Royal Court Theatre Megan Dodds as peace activist Rachel Corrie in the play "My Name is Rachel Corrie." The play has not yet premiered in the U.S. due to concerns over its content.

On March 16, 2003, Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old activist from Olympia, Wash., stood in front of a Caterpillar bulldozer about to demolish Palestinian homes in the Southern Gaza Strip, wearing a bright orange vest with reflectors. She had come to Israel as a member of the International Solidarity Movement. She carried a bullhorn and was clearly visible. However, the Israeli soldier driving the bulldozer simply pushed ahead, and at 23-years-old, Rachel Corrie was crushed to death. The incident was ruled an "accident," and no further investigations have been made to date.

What particularly strikes me is that very few people my age seem to know about this young woman, who was at the time of her death near the age of most of us. Rachel Corrie was an idealist; and she was killed, it seems, for nothing more than speaking her mind.

Shortly before the two-year anniversary of her death, her parents filed suit against Caterpillar Inc. and the State of Israel, alleging that Caterpillar knowingly sold machines used to violate human rights. The United Nations has consistently condemned these violations, and over the past six years, the Israel Defense Forces has used Caterpillar bulldozers to destroy thousands of Palestinian homes, injuring, killing and leaving people homeless in the process.

However, I do not believe that whether you agree with the Israeli or the Palestinian cause is the real issue here. We must remember that Rachel Corrie was a human being. In Britain, actor Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner from The Guardian composed a play from her journals, jottings and e-mails entitled "My Name is Rachel Corrie." On March 30, 2006, the play opened in the West End at the Playhouse Theatre in London after a successful run at the Royal Court about a year before. So far it has played to sold-out houses and rave reviews. So what's wrong with this picture? Rachel Corrie was an American. The play was supposed to have opened at the New York Theatre Workshop a couple of weeks ago. According to the April 2006 edition of Nation magazine, in late February the workshop suddenly announced that it was "indefinitely postponing" the play due to pressure from "local Jewish religious and community leaders."

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