A sad but courageous statement from the parents of Rachel Corrie, the American ?human shield? killed Monday by an Israeli army bulldozer, followed by a moving ?letter from Palestine? which she sent them on Feb. 7, two weeks after her arrival in the Gaza Strip.

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Date sent: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 01:27:48 +0000 (GMT)
From: ism rafah
Subject: Statement from Rachel Corrie?s parents

March 16, 2003

We are now in a period of grieving and still finding out the details behind the death of Rachel in the Gaza Strip.

We have raised all our children to appreciate the beauty of the global community and family and are proud that Rachel was able to live her convictions. Rachel was filled with love and a sense of duty to her fellow man, wherever they lived. And, she gave her life trying to protect those that are unable to protect themselves.

Rachel wrote to us from the Gaza Strip and we would like to release to the media her experience in her own words at this time.

Thank you.
Craig and Cindy Corrie,
Parents of Rachel Corrie

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LETTER FROM PALESTINE
By Rachel Corrie

Excerpts from an e-mail from Rachel on February 7, 2003.

I have been in Palestine for two weeks and one hour now, and I still have very few words to describe what I see. It is most difficult for me to think about what?s going on here when I sit down to write back to the United States?something about the virtual portal into luxury. I don?t know if many of the children here have ever existed without tank-shell holes in their walls and the towers of an occupying army surveying them constantly from the near horizons. I think, although I?m not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children understand that life is not like this everywhere. An eight-year-old was shot and killed by an Israeli tank two days before I got here, and many of the children murmur his name to me, Bali?or point at the posters of him on the walls. The children also love to get me to practice my limited Arabic by asking me ?Kaif Sharon?? ?Kaif Bush?? and they laugh when I say ?Bush Majnoon? ?Sharon Majnoon? back in my limited Arabic. (How is Sharon? How is Bush? Bush is crazy. Sharon is crazy.) Of course this isn?t quite what I believe, and some of the adults who have the English correct me: Bush mish Majnoon... Bush is a businessman. Today I tried to learn to say ?Bush is a tool?, but I don?t think it translated quite right. But anyway, there are eight-year-olds here much more aware of the workings of the global power structure than I was just a few years ago?at least regarding Israel.