March 17- Commemorating Rachel Corrie

by kevin Wednesday, Mar. 16, 2005 at 7:00 PM

Women in Black - Los Angeles presents... A Special Event Commemorating Rachel Corrie Rachel Corrie, a young human rights activist from Olympia, Washington, was killed on March 16th, 2003. She was trying to prevent a family home in Gaza from being demolished, when an Israeli bulldozer ran her over. Film Screening: "Dispatches: The Killing Zone" Talks: Dr. Laila Al-Marayati - Media's whitewashing of this crime Rev. Darrel Meyers - Presbyterian Church's divestment decision Mary Hughes - Witnessing the situation in Palestine Date and Time: Thursday, March 17th, 7:00 - 9:00 pm Venue: Liberty Hill Foundation, 2121 Cloverfield Boulevard, Suite 113 Santa Monica, CA 90404 (NE corner Cloverfield & Pico - Free parking on site) Film description and speaker bios below; no admission charge; free literature available For more information, see www.wib-la.org


Date and Time: Thursday, March 17th, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Venue: Liberty Hill Foundation, 2121 Cloverfield Boulevard, Suite 113
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(NE corner Cloverfield & Pico - Free parking on site)

co-sponsored by:
Council on American-Islamic Relations, Muslim Public Affairs Committee, If
Americans Knew, and Middle East Fellowship.

"Dispatches: The Killing Zone" (50 minutes)

Palestinian civilians live under the threat of Israeli Defence Force attacks
that do not discriminate between militants and children. Israeli setlers
live in fear of suicide attacks. But it is not only Palestinians and
Israelis who are dying. Since the Gulf war, three Westerners have come under
Israeli army attack.

An American peace activist was crushed to death by an IDF bulldozer; a
British peace protester was shot in the head by an IDF sniper and remains in
a coma; and last weekend, a British cameraman was shot dead by the IDF.

Within hours of arriving Sandra and Rodrigo are shot at and tear-gassed by
Israeli troops breaking up a memorial service for Rachel Corrie, an American
peace activist crushed by an Israeli Army bulldozer two days before.

That sets the tone for a five-week stay in which they document the shooting
by Israeli troops of the British peace campaigner Tom Hurndall, the death of
James Miller, the award-winning cameraman who worked extensively for Channel
4, killed as he filmed Israeli troops bulldozing Palestinian homes, and the
deaths and mutilation of many innocent Palestinians and Israelis.

The Dispatches team reveals what life is like in what has become a fully
blown war zone. Their film captures the aftermath of an Israeli missile
attack that assassinates a leader of the deadly Hamas group. Children who
happen to be playing in the street nearby are killed or have limbs blown
off.

They film the aftermath of an attack in which Israeli troops fire modified
tank shells that explode in mid air above densely populated civilian areas
and spray thousands of razor sharp darts, or flechettes, in an arc some 300
metres long and 90 metres wide. The team encounters sniper fire from Israeli
watchtowers, and endures tank shelling alongside a class of terrified school
children.

In one of the most shocking moments in the film, Dispatches captures
heartbreaking scenes in a Palestinian hospital minutes after Tom Hurndall
was shot through the head, rescuing a seven-year-old child from the line of
gunfire.

Jordan and Vasquez also investigate the death of James Miller, the
award-winning cameraman. They find that eyewitnesses tell a story sharply at
variance with the official Israeli account.

Speaker Bios

Dr. Laila Al-Marayati is the spokesperson and past president of the Muslim
Women's League, an organization dedicated to disseminating accurate
information about Islam and women and to strengthening the role of Muslim
women in society. As an American of Palestinian descent, Dr. Al-Marayati
frequently speaks about the rights of Palestinians, and has worked to
address the health and educational needs of Palestinian children living in
the West Bank and Gaza.

Rev. Darrel Meyers is retired Pastor at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church in
Van Nuys. He is a cofounder of the Middle East Fellowship, and has served as
one of its chairpersons since 1969. Darrell is also a board member of the
Friends of Sabeel-North America and makes frequent visits to the Middle
East. He holds a Masters degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Mary Hughes is a British-American grandmother, and retired TV writer. Her
interest in the Middle East was sparked bv a research assignment for a
documentary film about Gamal Abdul Nasser and David Ben Gurion in the
1960's. She has been to Palestine 3 times during the past 3 years (and once
to Iraq), with the Christian Peacemakers Team and the International
Solidarity Movement.