Kapal Rachel Corrie ... siapa Rachel Corrie?

Mungkin anda pernah dengar nama Rachel Corrie kan? Tapi kenalkan anda kepada Rachell Corrie semasa hidupnya? Apa sumbangan dia kepada masyarakat Palestin sehingga namanya diabadikan ke atas Kapal Bantuan tajaan PGPO?



Baiklah mari kita luangkan sedikit masa dan mengetahui latar belakang Rachell Corrie. Rachel Corrie adalah seorang pejuang hak asasi manusia yang patut kita hormati dan sanjungi. Anak gadis keturunan Ireland yang lahir di Olympia, Washington, US ini bersungguh sungguh menghalang kemusnahan yang dilakukan oleh pengganas Zionis di Palestin. Dia bukan beragama Islam.



Rachel Corrie cuba menghalang sebuah bulldozer yang hendak meranapkan rumah penduduk Palestine. Pemandu bulldozer, tanpa memperdulikan Rachel terus melanggar Rachell yang sedikit pun tidak gentar mahupun mengelak daripada bulldozer itu.



Beliau lahir pada tanggal 10 April 1979 dan menghembuskan nafas terakhir pada umur 23 tahun pada tahun 2003. Ketika itu beliau berdiri di hadapan jentolak Zionis yang tiba untuk merobohkan rumah warga Islam Palestin. Walaupun digertak Rachel tidak berganjak lalu binatang yang memandu jentolak tersebut melanggarnya sehingga mati. Adakah sia sia matinya membela nasib Umat Nabi Muhammad S.A.W. kekasih Allah dan sebab segala kejadian.

source: KampungFM.com


Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She was crushed to death in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bulldozer when she was kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent IDF forces from demolishing the home.


The IDF has claimed that the death was due to the restricted angle of view of the IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozer driver, while ISM eyewitnesses said "there was nothing to obscure the driver's view."[1] A student at the Evergreen State College, she had taken a year off and traveled to the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada.



Corrie was born on April 10, 1979, and raised in Olympia, Washington, United States. She was the youngest of the three children of Craig Corrie, an insurance executive, and Cindy Corrie, an amateur flautist. Cindy Corrie describes their family as "average Americans — politically liberal, economically conservative, middle class".



After graduating from Capital High School, Corrie went on to attend The Evergreen State College (TESC), also located in Olympia, where she took a number of arts courses. She took one year off from her studies to work as a volunteer in the Washington State Conservation Corps; other volunteer work included making weekly visits to patients with mental disorders for three years.


[5] In her senior year, she proposed an independent-study program in which she would travel to Gaza, join protesters from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and initiate a "sister city" project between Olympia and Rafah.[6] Before leaving, she also organized a pen-pal program between kids in Olympia and Rafah.



Friends described her as "attractive in a plain-spoken way, the opposite of flashy, not working to call attention to herself. She was reserved in large crowds but intimate one-on-one".[4] Colin Reese, Corrie's roommate, said she had wanted to become a writer and artist. Reese also said she was "not the most punctual or tidy person in the world," but that when it came to peace work, she "would work harder and longer than anybody else".


Activities in the West Bank and Gaza
After flying to Israel on January 22, 2003, Corrie underwent a two-day training course at ISM West Bank headquarters, before heading to Rafah to participate in ISM demonstrations. During her training, Corrie studied tactics of direct action. Basic rules about avoiding harm were given, which a featured article on the Corrie incident summarized as: "Wear fluorescent jackets. Don't run. Don't frighten the army.



Try to communicate by megaphone. Make your presence known." On January 27, 2003, Corrie and William Hewitt (also from Olympia), traveled to the Erez checkpoint and entered the Gaza Strip.While in Rafah, Corrie acted as a human shield in an attempt to impede house demolitions carried out by the IDF using armored bulldozers.


On Corrie's first night there, she and two other ISM members set up camp inside Block J, often a target for Israeli gunfire. Israeli troops fired bullets over their tent and at the ground a few feet away. Deciding that their presence was provoking the Israeli soldiers, not deterring them, Corrie and her colleagues hurriedly dismantled their tent and left the area.


Qishta, a Palestinian who worked as an interpreter, noted that: "Late January and February was a very crazy time. There were house demolitions taking place all over the border strip and the activists had no time to do anything else."[6] Qishta also stated of the ISM activists: "They were not only brave; they were crazy."[6] The confrontations were not without harm to the activists; a British participant was wounded by shrapnel.



Palestinian militants expressed concern that the "internationals" staying in tents between the Israeli watchtowers and the residential neighborhoods would get caught in crossfire, while other residents were concerned that the young activists might be spies. Corrie worked hard to overcome this suspicion, learning a few words of Arabic, participating in a mock trial denouncing the "crimes of the Bush Administration.




"With time, the ISM members were taken into Palestinian family homes, and provided with meals and beds. Even so, in the days before Corrie's death, a letter gained wide circulation in Rafah, casting suspicion again on the ISM members. "Who are they? Why are they here? Who asked them to come here?" it asked.[6] The letter caused the activists to be preoccupied and frustrated, and on the morning of Corrie's death they planned ways to counteract its effects. According to one activist, "We all had a feeling that our role was too passive. We talked about how to engage the Israeli military."



On March 14, 2003, during an interview with the Middle East Broadcasting network, Corrie said:
"I feel like I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive ... Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I'm having dinner with."


source: Wikipidia