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Rachel corrie graduation { June 13 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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The Olympian, Olympia Washington
Friday, June 13, 2003
Graduation day activities to honor slain activist
Buttons reading "End the Occupation" were on display at the Rachel Corrie memorial Thursday afternoon at The Evergreen State College. Corrie, who was killed in Gaza in March, would have graduated in today's ceremony.
WENDY CULVERWELL THE OLYMPIAN
One missing graduate will loom large over today's graduation festivities at The Evergreen State College as peace groups plan events to highlight her death.
Rachel Corrie, the young Olympia woman who died March 16 in the Palestinian community of Rafah when she was run over by an Israeli military bulldozer, would have graduated today.
Instead, her mother, Cindy Corrie, will accept a posthumous diploma on her behalf. It is one of two posthumous diplomas being awarded.
The diploma is part of the official program, but at least two separate efforts in Corrie's name promise to inject a dose of politics into Evergreen's graduation program.
Hundreds of volunteers from Women in Black, an international women's group promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, will stage a vigil during graduation.
The group's twin goals today are to honor Rachel Corrie's memory and to push Congress to demand a full investigation into her death.
Organizers are aware that some critics have expressed concern about the attention given to Rachel Corrie and see it as criticism of Israel that borders on anti-Semitism.
But Wendy Smith, a Seattle resident and member of Women in Black, said the group's agenda for ending the violent conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is not racist or anti-Semitic.
"I'm Jewish," she said. "I want to be proud of Israel."
Still more Corrie-related activities are being launched by a coalition of her friends and instructors at Evergreen.
They will release balloons and distribute brochures and as many as 150 graduates intend to wear kaffiyehs, or the headscarves that symbolize Palestinian national identity, as they collect their diploma covers.
Freedom of speech
The Evergreen administration is treating the activities as a matter of free speech. The college doesn't expect that the vigil, balloon release or other activities will distract attention from the graduates and their accomplishments, said college spokeswoman Kate Lykins Brown.
Simona Sharoni, executive director of the Peace & Justice Studies Association on the Evergreen campus, is coordinating the effort.
Sharoni, who is Jewish, said she is sensitive to criticism that honoring Rachel Corrie amounts to anti-Semitism.
"We are very sensitive to these accusations," she said.
'Stifling debate'
Born, raised and educated in Israel, she said the peace movement abhors racism, including anti-Semitism. Save for a young daughter, her entire family lives in Israel, she said.
Sharoni said Corrie sought her out when Corrie decided last fall to travel to Gaza and the West Bank territories, and Sharoni connected her to both Palestinian and Israeli peace groups. Corrie, she said, was in daily contact with groups on the Israeli side.
As a group, the coalition issued a statement saying that "dismissing critics of Israel or Zionism as 'anti-Semitic' is a means of stifling debate and masking the impact of occupation."
The pamphlets being distributed to those who attend the graduation ceremonies explain what happened to Rachel Corrie and why backers want to include it in graduation. The pamphlet also contains a statement against anti-Semitism.
The balloons released during the ceremony will be blue, white, black, green and red -- representing the colors of the flags of both Palestine and Israel.
©2003 The Olympian
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