Judith Laitman: Go see 'Rachel Corrie'--it will open your mind and heart Judith Laitman: Go see 'Rachel Corrie' -- it will open your mind and heartDear Editor: Thanks for the story on the production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," to be presented Friday and Saturday at the Orpheum Theater and again March 14-15 at the Overture Center. Rachel Corrie was a courageous young woman who was killed five years ago by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home in Rafah. For some, her death, at age 23, may be dismissed as an isolated incident, a tragic accident, or even a case of reckless idealism. But her death put the spotlight on a much more widespread evil. Her activism was a reaction to the atrocities being perpetrated under the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories. Home demolitions, according to the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, are part of a policy designed to force Palestinians to abandon the land they own to make way for Israeli settlements. Israeli bulldozers have demolished more than 18,000 Palestinian homes since 1967. Rachel Corrie was trying to save one of these -- the home of her friends. Rachel Corrie's story, crafted into a play from her own written words, is an example of the transcendent power of truth and moral courage over deception and greed and violence on a grand scale. Her idealism and her writings remind me of another girl who lost her life in a different time and place as a result of the gross abuse of power by one nation over the lives of others. Like Anne Frank, Rachel Corrie believed in the basic goodness of people and the need to act on one's ideals. And like Anne Frank's words, her words will continue to move people toward their better selves. As a Jew and a member of the Madison chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, I urge everyone to go see "My Name Is Rachel Corrie." It is an experience that will open your mind and your heart. Judith Laitman Madison © Copyright by JewishVoiceForPeace.org |