Rachel’s Words at Riverside Church Huge Success
As the traditional Arabic u’d was played by Zafer Tawil and Johnny Faraj, an estimated 1,000 people filled the Riverside Church in NYC on a chilly Wednesday night to hear the words of Rachel Corrie. Rachel was a human rights activist and gifted writer. She was crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer as she tried to protect the home of a Palestinian pharmacist from demolition in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on March 16th, 2003. Rachel was 23. Rachel’s Words was launched by a handful of activists from a NYC apartment in response to the indefinite postponement of the play “My Name is Rachel Corrie” which was scheduled to open at the New York Theatre Workshop on March 22nd.
The play would not open that night in New York City; but Rachel’s words would still be heard.
The evening began with opening remarks from Rachel’s Words organizers (Jen Marlowe, Ann Petter and Tom Wallace) who read statements received from Academy Award winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman (director and co-editor of the play) and Megan Dodds (the actor who plays Rachel in the production). Martin Luther King was invoked, as he had first come out against the war in Vietnam at that very spot in a speech entitled, “A Time to Break Silence.”
“We are breaking another kind of silence tonight,” Tom said to cheers from the audience. “Silence on the issue of human rights violations in Palestine, the increasing climate of fear and repression that attempts to dictate what issues we can address and what we cannot, and, most importantly, the silencing of the voice of Rachel Corrie.”
Amy Goodman, the host of Democracy Now! and James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute then took over as hosts of the evening, presenting a video montage of children from around the world reading a speech that Rachel had given at the age of ten. Amy and James also introduced statements and video messages from supporters who could not be present in person.
“Rachel’s is a voice that will never be silenced, because it is the voice of the best of the earth calling to all of us to help turn the tide of hatred and war,” Myra Lucretia Taylor read in a statement from Alice Walker. “I send my love to all who have gathered in her name.”
Tony-nominated actor Kathleen Chalfant, playwright and activist Eve Ensler, Mariam Said (Dr. Edward Said’s widow), Najla Said (Dr. Edward Said’s daughter), and Dr. Maya Angelou discussed via video message how critical it is to bring stories such as Rachel’s to light, the inspiration felt by Rachel’s courage and the importance of the evening’s gathering.
From the grand “Martin Luther King” pulpit, democratic candidate for NY Senate Jonathan Tasini took a stand for peace and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. “We speak and stand up and oppose the war in Iraq for the same reasons that we speak and stand up and say the occupation of the Palestinian people is wrong, morally and legally, and must end with a negotiated, just and peaceful solution between the lawfully elected governments of the Palestinian people and Israel.”
Anothony Arnove and Howard Zinn, who co-edited “Voices of a People’s History of the United States” described Rachel carrying the torch of others who have resisted imperialism. “Our hope for a future world community rests with such people, like Rachel Corrie, whose lives and deaths will always remind us that all people in all countries deserve the same justice.” Actor and teacher Brian Jones read in a statement by Zinn.
Legendary singer and songwriter Patti Smith appeared by videotape from her home singing Peaceable Kingdom acapella. The song had been written for and dedicated to Rachel shortly after her death. She broke in the middle of the song to address the audience, relating to the feelings of Rachel’s mother Cindy as a mother herself.
Stand-up comic Maysoon Zaid and playwright Betty Shamiah spoke of the obstacles they’ve faced making their voices heard as Palestinian artists in America. Liz Magnus, an Israeli American jazz pianist followed with an extraordinary performance composed for the event. Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), addressed the reasons that international citizens like Rachel are drawn to Palestine and to ISM. She reviewed the history and importance of the movement and re-iterated the non-violent nature of its goals and its methodology. WZBC Boston radio show host Sherif Fam shocked audience members during his update about today’s reality in Palestine, including that week’s headlines: there was no bread available in the Gaza Strip.
Suheir Hammad electrified the audience with a rallying cry to stand up and shout and then launched into the gut-wrenching poem she wrote days after Rachel was killed. “Who will answer these questions for me? Not Rachel Corrie…She is dead now. And the ocean will miss her gaze. Palestine will miss her heart, but mostly her family will miss her breath,” Suheir called out to the audience.
Leonard “Hub” Hubbard from the Grammy-award winning hip-hop band The Roots and vocalist/percussionist A. Marcy Francis performed a piece that Hub composed from Rachel’s own ten-year old writing.
Rachel’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, took the stage with a 1,000-person standing ovation. “Parents usually give the world the gift of their children,” Amy Goodman introduced them. “In this case, Rachel gave the world the gift of her parents.”
Cindy began by reading from the litany of things Rachel wrote in her fifth grade year book that she wanted to be when she grew up, from long-distance runner to pet-store owner to first-woman president. She talked about Rachel’s connection to the Pacific Northwest and what led Rachel to Gaza. Cindy described how, as Rachel stood with other internationals between Israeli military bulldozers and Palestinian homes, she was trying to stand in the way of oppression and brutality and stand to protect the rights of all people – Palestinian and Israeli alike – to live in safety and dignity.
Craig addressed the smear campaign that had been initiated against his daughter and the Nasrallahs, the family whose home Rachel had been protecting when she was killed. “Come on, use your head,” Craig implored those who might be tempted to believe the lies that Rachel was a member of Hamas. “Do you really think that Hamas is recruiting western strangers with no way to check if they are with the CIA? And think logically,” he continued, addressing those who had been told that Rachel was protecting terrorists’ homes slated for demolition. “Last year, the Nasrallahs were given visas to the United States – which required a visa from Israel to go to the Embassy in Tel Aviv. Do you really think that the US and Israel are giving visas to walk the streets of their cities to people they consider terrorists?”
A montage of the reality of life in Rafah was underscored with the u’d played by the renowned Simon Shaheen. The tension in the music grew as silent footage of a memorial Rachel’s friends held for her in Rafah was interrupted by tanks shooting at the mourners. The montage ended with an interview with Rachel in Rafah filmed shortly before her death, describing her feeling of horror at what was happening around her.
But the focus of the evening were the readings of Rachel’s emails. Actors, writers, activists, an 81-year old Holocaust survivor, a former Israeli soldier and ISM volunteer Brian Avery, who was shot in the face by a tank in the West Bank city of Jenin shortly after Rachel had been killed, lined up on either side of the stage. Everything else became background as Rachel spoke to us in a language so clear, powerful, simple and loving that no-one could ignore the appeal of her voice and her message. “We are all born and someday we’ll all die. Most likely to some degree alone.” Maya Angelou read over video from a writing of Rachel’s written before she left Olympia to go to Gaza. “What if our aloneness isn’t a tragedy? What if our alonesness is what allows us to speak the truth without being afraid?”
One by one, readers finished an email and left the stage until there was only one left.
“Let me know if you have any ideas about what I should do with the rest of my life,” read actor and teacher Leila Buck from Rachel’s final email, written to her father. “…much love, Poppy. Rachel.” A single white rose was laid on the now empty stage.
The final video message played. Rachel herself, speaking to her fifth grade press conference on world hunger, in the same words we heard at the start of the evening from children in New Orleans, Harlem, Palestine and Israel. “We have got to understand that they dream our dreams and we dream theirs,” ten-year old Rachel told the stunned audience at the Riverside Church. “We have got to understand that they are us. We are them.”
The audience left, silent and overwhelmed, feeling the clarity of Rachel’s voice deep down. Whether we are from Palestine. New Orleans. Israel. Iraq. New York. Afghanistan. Whether we are Arab, Jewish, Muslim or Christian. They are us. We are them.
Related Links
Program of Rachel’s Words: March 22nd at Riverside Church
Statement of Support and Thanks from Leila Buck
More reports from and about the March 22nd Event
This movement to spread Rachel’s words of peace and compassion is just beginning. Please consider supporting our work with a financial donation. Every dollar donated goes directly into the work of RachelsWords.org. We appreciate your continued support! Together, we can ensure that Rachel Corrie is not silenced, that her life and voice help bring peace to our world.
