Milena, will you speak for Rachel Corrie?

Dear supporters,  Sign the petition today!   Nearly 10 years after the untimely death of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American activist, her family still has not received justice. In March 2003, Rachel was killed by an Israeli military operated Caterpillar D9 bulldozer when she nonviolently attempted to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home in the Gaza strip. In August 2012, a civil case against the Israei military that had been filed by Rachel’s family ended with the presiding judge not only absolving the State of Israel of any responsibility, but also blaming Rachel for her own death. This is unacceptable. CODEPINK has partnered with the US Campaign to End Israeli Occupation, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Jewish Voice for Peace, and others to launch a petition this month. The petition to the State Department calls on “the U.S. government to conduct thorough, credible, and transparent investigations into the death of Rachel Corrie and into each case involved the death or serious injury of an American citizen by the Israeli military since 2001.” So far, the petition has collected more than 9,000 signatures. Please take a minute to sign it and then share it with your friends through email and social media. You can also tweet the petition and share it on your Facebook page. CODEPINK DC will join with the coalition partners in hand-delivering these petition signatures to the State Department later this month. Be sure that we include your signature by signing today! You can read the full text of the letter here. A U.S. Investigation into Israel’s killing of Rachel Corrie, along with Israel’s injuring and killing of other Americans, would be the first step toward accountability and justice for these peaceful U.S. human rights defenders. Help make this possible by taking action today. Sincerely, Alli, Holly, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Rae, Sam, and Tighe  P.S.- This month, Cindy and Craig Corrie accepted theprestigious 2012 LennonOno grant in honor of their daughter, Rachel Corrie. Cindy stated that Rachel’s “hope would be that [the LennonOno grant] could somehow contribute to bringing people together to work passionately for justice, and to do so with the utmost respect for the rights and lives of all human beings.” (Photo at right of Cindy and Craig Corrie with CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin and activist Alice Walker on the CODEPINK delegation to Gaza in 2009)