Dearborn—More than 1,000 supporters of Palestine came together April 11 for an event that was both somber and celebratory of energetic youth in commemorating the 60th anniversary of the 1948 displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the creation of Israel, or Al-Naqba (the catastrophe).
Craig and Cynthia Corrie, the parents of peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 while trying to protect a Palestinian home from destruction, keynoted the event put together by student groups from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Activists at the event, accustomed to attending smaller functions attended entirely by older people, were struck by the crowd thick with young students.
“How’d they do this?” asked Warren David, an Arab American public relations advocate.
“After 25 years of activism, I’m blown away. A thousand people, they’re in the major leagues… I’m excited to see the young people are stepping up because there’s hope.”
The Corries read excerpts from their daughter’s personal writings from her time in Gaza working with the International Solidarity Movement.
Rachel Corrie was 23 years old when she was crushed by a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer while protesting the destruction of a home in Rafah, Gaza.
They told about their efforts to carry on the legacy of their daughter by traveling to the Occupied Territories and advance nonviolent resistance efforts.
After emotional accounts of the worsening conflict and moments of silence for Rachel Corrie and other victims of the conflict, the students danced in a display of youthful hope and resilience.
And the Corries didn’t hesitate to join them. They danced with the students both in debka lines and during an intense hip hop performance by San Francisco Palestinian rap artist Patriarch.
“To me that was a very heartening thing about this,” said Cynthia Corrie. “They come at it with a youthful perspective.”
She said the energy and exchange of culture that comes from younger generations, even when it comes in the form of harsh hip hop music, is infinitely important to any movement.
“It’s another way of nurturing the spirit,” she said.
She said what often seems like a complete lack of progress, “no matter how hard people work,” hope still comes from the idea that injustice is not sustainable.
“It’s not a good time. It’s a confusing time for people… But Palestinian rights have to be addressed, sooner rather than later.”
Hend Elomari, 22, of the Wayne State group Students for Justice in Palestine, which organized the event with U of M group Humanitarian Organization for Palestinian Equality, said that about $35,000 was raised through ticket sales, an art auction, and a pledge drive led by U of M student Suhaib Al-Hanooti, 23.
Elomari said the funds will go entirely to the international charity Islamic Relief.
“They’re the only ones that can actually channel it to Gaza,” she said.
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| Rapper Patriarch |
“It’s amazing,” said Zamam Issa, a Palestinian business owner from Ann Arbor who attended.
“It’s a happy and a sad moment at the same time.”
He said he got goose bumps as the Corries spoke, and that the huge turnout filled him with hope.
“The way I see my son, he’s 18, how much he cares about what’s going on — the things that I couldn’t do, he’s going to do.”
The Corries spoke about being embraced and becoming close to Arab and Arab American communities since their daughter’s death and their own resistance work.
“We aren’t Palestinian by blood. We’re not Arab Americans. But we’ve been adopted. And we’re proud of it,” said Craig Corrie.
Cynthia Corrie said that in an email written to her by her daughter while she was in Rafah, Rachel Corrie wrote “‘I wish you could meet these people, maybe hopefully, someday, you will.'”
The Corries did visit Rafah in 2003 and 2006, and they intend to go back.
“Rachel went to Rafah and got her hands and feet dirty,” Cynthia Corrie said. “And now Craig and I feel it is our turn.”
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