Rachel’s Words

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/279019_robert27.html

Door slams hard on any who would criticize Israel
Thursday, July 27, 2006

By ROBERT L. JAMIESON JR.
P-I COLUMNIST

When it comes to Israel, there seems to be precious little room for free discussion.

To suggest anything critical of the country puts one at risk of being labeled the worst kinds of things.

Seen through another prism, it is like a white person being called racist for wondering why black kids can memorize rap lyrics but won’t put the same effort into English 101.

Or like folks being deemed hostile to immigrants because they question why undocumented workers line up downtown for day-labor jobs.

Or being called a homophobe for suggesting that gays and lesbians are off base when they equate the push for legalized gay marriage to the civil rights movement.

Such issues, molecularly charged, are ripe for debate.

Yet none of these topics, from where I sit, comes close to setting off the kind of reflexive and negative reaction touched off by questioning Israel.

Doing so invites being called anti-Israel or anti-Semitic, damning labels that are hard to remove. Then the door slams on honest discourse.

My Name is Rachel Corrie

Irish Premiere
Taken from the writings of Rachel Corrie
Edited by Alan Rickman and Hatherine Viner
Performed by Josephine Taylor
Directed by Alan Rickman
Designed by Hildegard Bechtler
Lighting designed by Johanna Town
Sound & video by Emma Laxton

Why did a 23-year-old woman leave her comfortable American life to stand between a bulldozer and a Palestinian home? The short life and sudden death of Rachel Corrie, from the words she left behind. A portrait of a remarkable woman, My Name is Rachel Corrie tells the story of American peace activist Rachel Corrie based on extracts from her diaries during her time spent in the Gaza Strip up until her death in 2003. My Name Is Rachel Corrie makes its Irish debut in Galway fresh from a successful sell-out season in London’s West End and two sell-out seasons at the Royal Court.

Company: THE ROYAL COURT THEATRE
Venue: Black Box Theatre
Date: Monday 24- Sunday 30 July
Time: 7.30pm(90 minutes)
Ticket: €22 (€20 conc.)

SANTA FE, NM:

Teatro Paraguas presents
MESSAGES OF RACHEL CORRIE
A staged reading of Rachel Corrie’s e-mails from Rafah and other writings.

Saturday, July 22, 8:00 pm
Sunday, July 23, 2:00 pm

El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe
1615 Paseo de Peralta
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Admission is by donation. Performances will benefit the Rachel Corrie Foundation and El Museo Cultural.

For further information please call 505.473.0143

By Robert Simonson
03 Jul 2006
The acclaimed, and controversial historical solo play My Name Is Rachel Corrie will be published in the U.S. by TCG in September.

The Royal Court Theatre production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie will begin performances at Off-Broadway’s Minetta Lane Theatre Oct. 15. The limited engagement will play 48 performances through Nov. 19.

The play, which is taken from the writings of the late American activist Rachel Corrie, will be directed by actor Alan Rickman, who, with journalist Katharine Viner, edited Corrie’s writings.

The TCG printing will run 64 pages and is priced at $12.95.

The play opened in April 2005 at London’s Royal Court Theatre and returned for an encore engagement in October 2005. It later played nine weeks at London’s Playhouse Theatre in spring 2006. The play was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement.

A Wall Runs Through It: One Palestinian Family’s Tale
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

12 July 2006
The New York Times

With its contemplative tone and haunting images, ”The Color of Olives” may be the most peaceful documentary ever to arrive from a war zone. Filmed about 15 miles from Tel Aviv in Masha, a Palestinian village disrupted by the wall Israel is building on the West Bank, the movie observes an ordinary Palestinian family living under extraordinary conditions.

Refusing to leave land that has been in his family for generations, Hani Amer — along with his wife, Monira, and their six surviving children — literally lives surrounded by the wall. A military road, a checkpoint and electrified fences separate the family home from the fields of oranges, olives and flowers they used to sell in Masha’s now abandoned garden markets. Each day Hani and the children patiently wait for soldiers to unlock the gate and allow them to go to work and school. Sometimes they wait a very long time.