ISRAEL: On the fifth anniversary of her death, a play about U.S. activist Rachel Corrie who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza is performed in Haifa

Record ID: 395903

  • Title: ISRAEL: On the fifth anniversary of her death, a play about U.S. activist Rachel Corrie who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza is performed in Haifa
  • Date: 18th March 2008
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN ACTRESS LANA ZUREIK SAYING: "I was very much aware of what a strong relationship Rachel had with her mother and her family, of how she came across through her words from Gaza, of her need for her mother -- and we are coming up to (Middle Eastern) Mother's Day. So it was very moving, and it made me become more involved with the play and more
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA1UQM5KP7HSBFRAYWQY95EWV52
  • Story Text: On the fifth anniversary of her death, a play about U.S. activist Rachel Corrie who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza is performed in the Israeli city of Haifa.
    To mark the fifth anniversary of the death of U.S. activist Rachel Corrie's, who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip, the Midan theatre troupe performed a play called 'My Name is Rachel Corrie' in the Israeli city of Haifa on Sunday (March 16).
    It was the first time the play was performed in Israel, and Midan will tour Israel and the West Bank with the play.
    The single-actor play was performed in Arabic, adapted by director Riad Masarwa from an English-language play based on Rachel Corrie's personal diaries and emails, edited by British actor Alan Rickman and journalist Katharine viner.

    "It's incredibly powerful to know that we are going to see the play presented here in Israel in Haifa, to see a Palestinian actress, a beautiful Palestinian actress, and to hear it in Arabic. I am so excited," said Rachel's mother Cindy Corrie ahead of the Haifa performance.
    The original version opened in London and was performed in other cities, including New York.
    Rachel Corrie was a young woman from the Pacific Northwest, born in 1979. At 10, she made a speech pleading on behalf of the poor at her school's fifth-grade news conference on world hunger, and at 23 she left to take a look at the sharp end of where her country's tax dollars were spent on things military.
    She went to the Palestinian territories with an international goodwill movement, and there she died, crushed by a U.S.-made bulldozer being used by Israeli forces that were knocking down Palestinian homes in Rafah.

    "I think today here right behind us people are remembering Rachel," her father Craig Corrie said.

    "But Rachel would want to remember, have people remember, the people of Gaza. And it's gotten incredibly even more difficult for the people of gaza. They're sealed off now and they can't get food, and the medical care, our friends are under attack," he added.
    Aid and rights groups said earlier this month Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip has created the worst humanitarian crisis since the Israeli occupation began in 1967.
    Food shortages, crumbling health services and a water and sewage system close to collapse are all part of the daily misery facing 1.5 million Palestinians in Hamas-controlled Gaza, a report by a coalition of British relief groups said.
    Israel imposed restrictions on the flow of people and goods and virtually froze economic activity last June when Hamas Islamists seized control of Gaza. It tightened the blockade in January, limiting supplies of fuel and other goods in what it described as a response to cross-border rocket fire by militants.
    The report painted a picture of an enclave held hostage by the embargo, which it said had worsened poverty and unemployment, crippled education services and made 1.1 million people -- 80 percent of the population -- dependent on food aid. It said the health system was in tatters, with hospitals facing daily power cuts lasting eight to 12 hours a day due to fuel and electricity restrictions.
    Israeli attacks in recent weeks, which Israel also said were in response to militant rocket fire, have killed dozens of Gazans, many of whom were civilians, including children and babies.
    Director Masarwa said several considerations prompted to undertake the adaptation of the play.

    "The main question I try to answer in the play is: what makes a girl of 23 leave a privileged life in American and come to Palestine only to die in the end? This is the question I am trying to answer. Also I want the reaction of the Palestinians to this play to be (to ask themselves:) What am I doing at this time regarding what is going on?" he said after the performance.
    Corrie is played by Palestinian actress Lana Zureik. Zureik said that much effort went into getting to know the character she was going to play as it was important for her to portray her as accurately as possible.

    "I was very much aware of what a strong relationship Rachel had with her mother and her family, of how she came across through her words from Gaza, of her need for her mother -- and we are coming up to (Middle Eastern) Mother's Day. So it was very moving, and it made me become more involved with the play and more able to identify with the character," said Zureik.

    "We tried to be accurate with the translation. We tried to understand what she meant with all her words, we tried to enter to her mind and understand what she thought or felt, how she used to see things, how she criticised the things, how this affected her. This was all part of our work when we researched the subject, we not only translated but also researched. We wanted to know who Rachel was, how she came to this region, why she came to this region," Zureik continued.
    This month also sees the release of 'Let Me Stand Alone', a book spanning Corrie's writing from the age of 10 years old to the final email sent to her father four days before her death.
    Rachel's parents will tour with Midan troupe, hold readings from Rachel's writings, and host question and answer sessions.
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