Rachel Corrie, a young American, was 23-years-old in 2003, when she went to the Gaza Strip and stood in front of an Israeli bulldozer, using nonviolent direct action to try to block it from demolishing a Palestinian home. The bulldozer ran over her, crushing her to death. Just two days before her tragic death, Rachel said in an interview, "I feel like I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive ... Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I'm having dinner with." March 16th marks the ninth anniversary of her death. Here is a poem that celebrates Rachel’s courage in contrast to the US bulldozing of Iraqi troops in the Gulf War.

In Desert Storm, an American War,

the U.S. military put bulldozer blades on its tanks

and buried Iraqi soldiers alive in desert sands.

This deserves more than a footnote in the annals

of human cruelty.

Rachel Corrie, a young American, stood

before an Israeli bulldozer that threatened the home

of a Palestinian family.  She refused to give way.

This deserves more than a footnote in the annals

of human courage.

More articles by David Krieger