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The movie--part of the festival's wider series on social justice and activism--tells the story of Rachel Corrie, a 23 year-old American peace activist, who was fatally run over by a bulldozer that the IDF was using to demolish houses in the Rafah Refugee Camp on March 16, 2003. This unfortunate event needs to be seen in the context of a long list of deaths and fatal injuries committed by the Israeli army against nonviolent demonstrators with almost complete impunity. The San Francisco Film Festival has caved in to pressure to provide an 'additional perspective' on the movie, by inviting Dr. Michael Harris, of SF Voice for Israel, at the last minute to speak to the audience immediately prior to the screening. Jewish Voice for Peace does not believe that the film needs an 'additional perspective.' The movie tells the story of an American nonviolent activist in Gaza. If anything, we would like to hear the seldom-heard perspective of a Palestinian in Gaza (were she or he allowed to leave the Gaza Strip, currently under siege by Israel for over two years.) It's time to have a much needed dialogue inside of the Jewish community about the effects of the Israeli occupation. Dialogue works both ways. We hope that the next movie or event highlighting the positive elements of Israeli society while ignoring the cost to the Palestinians will be preceded by our Jewish Voice for Peace perspective. About the movie This Saturday, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will screen the movie Rachel (Jul 25, 1.30 pm, Castro Theater), co-presented by Jewish Voice for Peaceand the American Friends Service Committee. The movie is directed by veteran filmmaker Simone Bitton, a dual citizen of Israel and France. The film documents the details surrounding the death of Rachel Corrie, an American activist who was protesting Israeli military actions in Gaza. The film Rachel includes the viewpoints of people with a variety of opinions on the events which led to Rachel's death. It includes interviews with Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitch, as well as doctors, activists, soldiers, Israeli and Palestinian civilians, and Rachel Corrie’s parents. The film also includes military video from the Israeli army. The film has already played in such prestigious festivals as the Berlin International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival (New York) and will have its Israeli premiere at the Haifa International Film Festival this October. Cindy Corrie, Rachel Corrie’s mother, will be present at the San Francisco screening. About Jewish Voice for Peace See for yourself and judge us by our work:http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org We are a diverse and democratic community of activists—with over 85,000 supporters--inspired by Jewish tradition to work together for peace, justice, and human rights. Our advisory board includes some of the world's best known Jewish thinkers and artists including Tony Kushner, Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Adrienne Rich, and Ed Asner. We have called on Congress to stop US military aid to Israel until Israel investigates war crimes committed in Gaza, and until Israel agrees to abide by U.S. and international law including withdrawing settlements. We have publicized the report by the Israel organization Breaking the Silence, with disturbing testimonies by Israeli soldiers about the their use of phosphorus over civilian population, their targeting of civilians, and their use of human shields during their Gaza attack. From Ezra Nawi to New Profile to the Shministim and more, we have provided ongoing support to Israel's nonviolent resistance, which remains increasingly under attack. We've challenged AIPAC at their annual meeting, and we continue to monitor the right-wing Israel Lobby's unethical tactics in silencing voices of dissent. We have supported efforts by churches to selectively divest from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. About Cindy Corrie and the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice See for yourself and judge them by their work:http://rachelcorriefoundation.org The Foundation is preparing its fist humanitarian delegation to Gaza this September. It is also working on the Olympia-Rafah Sister Project, preparing the largest solidarity mural in the U.S. The foundation also awards annually the Rachel Corrie Memorial Scholarship to an Evergreen State College student dedicated to gaining a better understanding of the Middle East and to working locally or internationally to further Middle East peace. In the words of Rabbi Brian Walt, Executive Director of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America: In
my position as Executive Director of Rabbis for Human Rights-North
America, I have worked with Cindy and Craig, Rachel Corrie’s
parents.
They are extraordinary human beings who generously support
the work of
Rabbis for Human Rights and other Israeli human rights and peace
groups. They have visited with Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the Executive
Director of RHR in Israel, and others in the RHR office in Jerusalem
and have consistently supported our work. I have been moved
in my
conversations with them, by their integrity and their deep commitment
to a just peace. If I were in their situation, I
would imagine that
the temptation to hate those who killed my daughter would be
hard to
resist. Despite their daughter’s tragic death, the Corries have never
spoken in a hateful way towards Israel or Jews. On
the contrary, they
are deeply committed to peace and to the security of all people in the
conflict, Israelis and
Palestinians. Read his statement in full here: http://rabbibrian.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/rabbi-attacks-corrie-family-and-foundation/ About Rachel Corrie Rachel Corrie was a 23 year-old American peace activist, who was fatally run over by a bulldozer that the IDF was using to demolish houses in the Rafah Refugee Camp on March 16, 2003. The Israeli human rights group Btselem acknowledged that she did not participate in hostilities when killed (1). She joined a growing list of nonviolent international peace activists killed or critically injured by the IDF, including: Tom Hurndall, fatally shot in the head in April 2003 in Rafah, as he was trying to shelter children from Israeli army gunfire; and Brian Avery, shot in the face from an Israeli tank in Jenin in April 2003 (2). More recently, Tristan Anderson, who was critically injured in March 2009 in the West Bank village of Ni'lin, when he was participating in a nonviolent demonstration and was hit in the head by a high-velocity tear-gas canister fired by an Israeli policeman. The canister fractured his skull, and injured the front lobe of his brain. Tristan has undergone multiple surgeries and remains in a coma. In most of these cases—including the Corrie death—the impartiality and professionalism of the Israeli investigation were deemed "highly questionable" by Human Rights Watch (3). These internationals join a longer list of almost 2,200 "Palestinians who did not take part in the hostilities and were killed by Israeli security forces" from 2000 until the outbreak of the attack on Gaza (4). Want to read more about the movie and the festival? More controversy about Rachel Corrie’s mother at San Francisco’s Jewish Film Fest SF Jewish Film Festival: “Our Role is to Catalyze Conversation Rabbi Brian Walt's statement defending the Corries: Rabbi attacks Corrie family and Foundation/ You Must *Not* See This Movie? Muzzling Jewish Dissent Continuing insanity: Koret Foundation up in arms about Cindy Corrie, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Quakers Koret Foundation flays San Francisco Jewish Film Festival over Corrie documentary (1) http://www.btselem.org/english/Statistics/Casualties_Data.asp?Category=11®ion=TER (2) http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE01/001/2009/en/3fe5c240-d77d-4e15-8957-5928387d1093/mde010012009eng.pdf. (3) HRW, Promoting Impunity: The Israeli Military’s Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing, June 2005 Vol. 17, No. 7(E) http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/iopt0605/8.htm (4) This figure does not include Palestinians killed during the course of a targeted killing or Palestinians who died after medical treatment was delayed due to restrictions of movement. See http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp |
