"For a long time I've been operating from a certain core assumption that we are all essentially the same inside, and that our differences are by and large situational. That goes for everybody— Bush, Bin Laden, Tony Blair, me, you… Palestinians, everybody of any particular religion. I know there is a good chance that this assumption actually is false. But it's convenient, because it always leads to questions about the way privilege shelters people from the consequences of their actions. It's also convenient because it leads to some level of forgiveness, whether justified or not."
Rachel Corrie, April 10 1979 — March 16 2003
"I would have joined a terrorist organization."
Ehud Barak's (Former Israeli Prime Minister) response to Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Ha'aretz newspaper, when Barak was asked what he would have done if he had been born a Palestinian.
"Today, as I walked on top of the rubble, Egyptian soldiers called to me from the other side of the border: 'Go! Go!' because a tank was coming. And then waving and 'What's your name?' Something disturbing about this friendly curiosity. To some degree, we are all kids curious about other kids. Egyptian kids shouting at strange women wandering into the path of tanks. Palestinian kids shot from the tanks when they peek out from behind walls to see what's going on. International kids standing in front of tanks with banners. Israeli kids in the tanks- occasionally shouting, occasionally waving- many forced to be here, many just aggressive, anonymously shooting into the houses as we wander away."
Rachel Corrie, American Human Rights Activist, writer, and free-spirit. Killed by an American-made Israeli bulldozer trying to save a Palestinian house.
"There remains one basic choice, and only Israelis can make it: Do we want permanent peace with our neighbors, or do we want to retain our settlements in the occupied territories of the Palestinians? America's worst betrayl of Israel would be to support the second choice."
Jimmy Carter, Former US President, Humanitarian
"The world has lost one of its greatest men - a warrior for his nation's freedom, and now a martyr for his nation's peace.
To Leah Rabin and her children, Hillary and I send our love and our prayers. To the people of Israel, I want you to know that the hearts and prayers of all Americans are with you. Just as America has stood by you in moments of crisis and triumph, so now we all stand by you in this moment of grieving and loss.
For half a century, Yitzhak Rabin risked his life to defend his country. Today he gave his life to bring it a lasting peace. His last act, his last words, were in defense of that peace he did so much to create. Peace must be and peace will be Prime Minister Rabin's lasting legacy. Tonight the land for which he gave his life is in mourning. But I want the world to remember what Prime Minister Rabin said here at the White House barely one month ago,and I quote: 'We should not let the land flowing with milk and honey become a land flowing with blood and tears. Don't let it happen'."
Bill Clinton, Former US President and active participant in peace processes between Arafat and Rabin during his presidency. On the death of Yitzhak Rabin, former Israeli Prime Minister who was assassinated.
"You asked me about non-violent resistence, and I mentioned the first intifada. The vast majority of Palestinians right now, as far as I can tell, are engaging in Gandhian non-violent resistence... Who do you think these families are that I tell you about, who won't take any money from us even though they are very, very poor, and who say to us: 'We are not a hotel. We help you because we think maybe you will go and tell people in your country that you lived with Muslims. We think they will know that we are good people. We are quiet people. We just want peace'? Do you think I'm hanging out with Hamas fighters? These people are being shot at every day and they continue to go about their business as best they can in the sights of machine guns and rocket launchers. Isn't that basically the epitome of non-violent resistance?"
Rachel Corrie, in an e-mail response to her mother while staying in Rafah.
"The Israelis are mistaken if they think we do not have an alternative to negotiations. By Allah I swear they are wrong. The Palestinian people are prepared to sacrifice the last boy and the last girl so that the Palestinian flag will be flown over the walls, the churches and the mosques of Jerusalem."
Yasser Arafat, in a speech given on 6 August 1995 at a party to celebrate the birth of his daughter (Haaretz, 6 September 1995; The Jerusalem Post, 7 September 1995)
"Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand."
Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (1969–2004) and President of the Palestinian National Authority (1993–2004). In 1994 Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for the negotiation of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord.
"Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country."
David Ben Gurion, First Israeli Prime Minister
"The scariest thing for non-Jewish Americans in talking about Palestinian self-determination is the fear of being or sounding anti-Semitic. The people of Israel are suffering and Jewish people have a long history of oppression. We still have some responsibility for that, but I think it's important to draw a firm distinction between the policies of Israel as a state, and Jewish people. That's kind of a no-brainer, but there is very strong pressure to conflate the two. I try to ask myself, whose interest does it serve to identify Israeli policy with all Jewish people?"
Rachel Corrie, a messy, skinny, articulate, Salvador Dali-loving chain-smoker with a passion for the music of Pat Benatar.
"Every murder is an abominable act, but the act before us is more abominable sevenfold, because not only has the accused not expressed regret or sorrow, but he also seeks to show that he is at peace with himself over the act that he perpetrated. He who so calmly cuts short another's life, only proves the depth of wretchedness to which his values have fallen, and thus he does not merit any regard whatsoever, except pity, because he has lost his humanity."
Judge presiding over the trial of Yigal Amir, responsible for the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin
"Gather together, O fighters of Karameh, Litani and Beirut, raise your voices aloud: we shall die, we shall die, so that Palestine shall live. Our blood is your atonement, O Jerusalem, and our souls are your defenders, O Palestine. We swear unto the holy martyrs: until victory!"
Statement issued by the student branch of Fatah, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's faction of the PLO, in Nablus to commemorate Land Day. Karameh, Litani and Beirut were the sites of major battles between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israeli forces. (Al-Ayyam, 29 March 1998)
"Since coming to Duke, I've become more conservative regarding the Middle East. I truly believe that a threat to the security of Israel is a threat to Jews all over ... especially in the U.S."
Livia Fine, Duke University junior
"I am for the United States being involved, and I hope that the United States will keep its commitment to Jordan, to the Palestinians, in accordance to what was said to them."
Yitzhak Rabin
"I believe that it is my responsibility as the prime minister of Israel to do whatever can be done to exploit the unique opportunities that lie ahead of us to move towards peace. Not everything can be done by one act."
Yitzhak Rabin
"I believe, too, that we will prevail over them. We have known terrorist attacks in the past, and I am afraid there is no hermetic solution to terrorism."
Yitzhak Rabin
"America and Israel share a special bond. Our relationship is unique among all nations. Like America, Israel is a strong democracy, a symbol of freedom, and an oasis of liberty, a home to the oppressed and persecuted."
Bill Clinton, Former US President
Lastly -
"If I can send the flower of the German nation into the hell of war without the smallest pity for the shedding of precious German blood, then surely I have the right to remove millions of an inferior race that breeds like vermin."
Adolf Hitler
"Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason."
Abraham J. Heschel quotes (Jewish theologian and philosopher, 1907-1972)
Rachel Corrie, April 10 1979 — March 16 2003
"I would have joined a terrorist organization."
Ehud Barak's (Former Israeli Prime Minister) response to Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Ha'aretz newspaper, when Barak was asked what he would have done if he had been born a Palestinian.
"Today, as I walked on top of the rubble, Egyptian soldiers called to me from the other side of the border: 'Go! Go!' because a tank was coming. And then waving and 'What's your name?' Something disturbing about this friendly curiosity. To some degree, we are all kids curious about other kids. Egyptian kids shouting at strange women wandering into the path of tanks. Palestinian kids shot from the tanks when they peek out from behind walls to see what's going on. International kids standing in front of tanks with banners. Israeli kids in the tanks- occasionally shouting, occasionally waving- many forced to be here, many just aggressive, anonymously shooting into the houses as we wander away."
Rachel Corrie, American Human Rights Activist, writer, and free-spirit. Killed by an American-made Israeli bulldozer trying to save a Palestinian house.
"There remains one basic choice, and only Israelis can make it: Do we want permanent peace with our neighbors, or do we want to retain our settlements in the occupied territories of the Palestinians? America's worst betrayl of Israel would be to support the second choice."
Jimmy Carter, Former US President, Humanitarian
"The world has lost one of its greatest men - a warrior for his nation's freedom, and now a martyr for his nation's peace.
To Leah Rabin and her children, Hillary and I send our love and our prayers. To the people of Israel, I want you to know that the hearts and prayers of all Americans are with you. Just as America has stood by you in moments of crisis and triumph, so now we all stand by you in this moment of grieving and loss.
For half a century, Yitzhak Rabin risked his life to defend his country. Today he gave his life to bring it a lasting peace. His last act, his last words, were in defense of that peace he did so much to create. Peace must be and peace will be Prime Minister Rabin's lasting legacy. Tonight the land for which he gave his life is in mourning. But I want the world to remember what Prime Minister Rabin said here at the White House barely one month ago,and I quote: 'We should not let the land flowing with milk and honey become a land flowing with blood and tears. Don't let it happen'."
Bill Clinton, Former US President and active participant in peace processes between Arafat and Rabin during his presidency. On the death of Yitzhak Rabin, former Israeli Prime Minister who was assassinated.
"You asked me about non-violent resistence, and I mentioned the first intifada. The vast majority of Palestinians right now, as far as I can tell, are engaging in Gandhian non-violent resistence... Who do you think these families are that I tell you about, who won't take any money from us even though they are very, very poor, and who say to us: 'We are not a hotel. We help you because we think maybe you will go and tell people in your country that you lived with Muslims. We think they will know that we are good people. We are quiet people. We just want peace'? Do you think I'm hanging out with Hamas fighters? These people are being shot at every day and they continue to go about their business as best they can in the sights of machine guns and rocket launchers. Isn't that basically the epitome of non-violent resistance?"
Rachel Corrie, in an e-mail response to her mother while staying in Rafah.
"The Israelis are mistaken if they think we do not have an alternative to negotiations. By Allah I swear they are wrong. The Palestinian people are prepared to sacrifice the last boy and the last girl so that the Palestinian flag will be flown over the walls, the churches and the mosques of Jerusalem."
Yasser Arafat, in a speech given on 6 August 1995 at a party to celebrate the birth of his daughter (Haaretz, 6 September 1995; The Jerusalem Post, 7 September 1995)
"Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand."
Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (1969–2004) and President of the Palestinian National Authority (1993–2004). In 1994 Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for the negotiation of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord.
"Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country."
David Ben Gurion, First Israeli Prime Minister
"The scariest thing for non-Jewish Americans in talking about Palestinian self-determination is the fear of being or sounding anti-Semitic. The people of Israel are suffering and Jewish people have a long history of oppression. We still have some responsibility for that, but I think it's important to draw a firm distinction between the policies of Israel as a state, and Jewish people. That's kind of a no-brainer, but there is very strong pressure to conflate the two. I try to ask myself, whose interest does it serve to identify Israeli policy with all Jewish people?"
Rachel Corrie, a messy, skinny, articulate, Salvador Dali-loving chain-smoker with a passion for the music of Pat Benatar.
"Every murder is an abominable act, but the act before us is more abominable sevenfold, because not only has the accused not expressed regret or sorrow, but he also seeks to show that he is at peace with himself over the act that he perpetrated. He who so calmly cuts short another's life, only proves the depth of wretchedness to which his values have fallen, and thus he does not merit any regard whatsoever, except pity, because he has lost his humanity."
Judge presiding over the trial of Yigal Amir, responsible for the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin
"Gather together, O fighters of Karameh, Litani and Beirut, raise your voices aloud: we shall die, we shall die, so that Palestine shall live. Our blood is your atonement, O Jerusalem, and our souls are your defenders, O Palestine. We swear unto the holy martyrs: until victory!"
Statement issued by the student branch of Fatah, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's faction of the PLO, in Nablus to commemorate Land Day. Karameh, Litani and Beirut were the sites of major battles between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israeli forces. (Al-Ayyam, 29 March 1998)
"Since coming to Duke, I've become more conservative regarding the Middle East. I truly believe that a threat to the security of Israel is a threat to Jews all over ... especially in the U.S."
Livia Fine, Duke University junior
"I am for the United States being involved, and I hope that the United States will keep its commitment to Jordan, to the Palestinians, in accordance to what was said to them."
Yitzhak Rabin
"I believe that it is my responsibility as the prime minister of Israel to do whatever can be done to exploit the unique opportunities that lie ahead of us to move towards peace. Not everything can be done by one act."
Yitzhak Rabin
"I believe, too, that we will prevail over them. We have known terrorist attacks in the past, and I am afraid there is no hermetic solution to terrorism."
Yitzhak Rabin
"America and Israel share a special bond. Our relationship is unique among all nations. Like America, Israel is a strong democracy, a symbol of freedom, and an oasis of liberty, a home to the oppressed and persecuted."
Bill Clinton, Former US President
Lastly -
"If I can send the flower of the German nation into the hell of war without the smallest pity for the shedding of precious German blood, then surely I have the right to remove millions of an inferior race that breeds like vermin."
Adolf Hitler
"Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason."
Abraham J. Heschel quotes (Jewish theologian and philosopher, 1907-1972)