Rachel Corrie (1979-2003) was an impassioned activist for Palestine, who was killed by an Israeli armored Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer in Rafah, Gaza as she protected a Palestinian pharmacist’s home from arbitrary demolition by the occupation military.
She was also our union sister, a rank-and-file member of SEIU 1199 North West, dedicated to justice for workers and for people everywhere struggling for justice and against oppression. Rachel joins the list of countless union martyrs, including Sami Taha, the leader of the Palestine Arab Workers Society, assassinated in 1947, who have fallen as they stood to defend their fellow workers and the popular classes.
On March 16, 2010, the seventh anniversary of her death, we salute our union sister and pledge to continue to struggle in her path – for freedom, for justice, and against oppression – and to honor her sacrifice by bringing those responsible for her murder – and the murder of thousands of Palestinians, the occupation of Palestinian land, the denial of the Palestinian right to return, the siege on Gaza, the home demolitions, land confiscations and apartheid wall, the war on Palestinian identity – to justice, and to stand with Palestinian workers, the Palestinian and Arab people, and progressive forces throughout the world, in the struggle for liberation and justice.
– Labor for Palestine
