Rafah

Rachel's last mail

Rachel Corrie and Craig Corrie Rafah, Olympia 20 March 2003

On Tuesday the British Guardian newspaper ran a series of emails from Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist killed by an Israeli army bulldozer. Here the Guardian publishs her final exchange with her father. 

In Rafah, the children have grown so used to the sound of gunfire they can't sleep without it

Justin Huggler Rafah, Gaza Strip 23 December 2002

“WE WERE sitting in the Asfuls’ front room. Suddenly the two tanks at the end of the street opened up their machine-guns. The bullets were flying so close to the house we could see the tracer fire slapping straight past the windows. To leave without crossing the line of fire would be impossible. All we could do was sit and hope the bullets did not come through the window.” Justin Huggler writes in The Independent. 

Report from Rafah Block 'O'

Kristen Ess Rafah, Gaza Strip 19 December 2002

Block O in Rafah is almost empty now. Most of the people have gone. The 8 meter high, 10 meter deep prison wall that the Israeli military government is building — as it devastates Rafah — is growing. Kristen Ess writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. 

A smaller space each day

Kristen Ess Rafah, Gaza Strip 5 November 2002



A pile of gray cement, once a family’s home, sits next to the street. Directly in front is a small white tent. This is where the family now lives. There is no furniture, no clothes, no family pictures. They are all somewhere under the rubble. Each day at least 6 Palestinian homes are demolished, except Saturday which is a holiday for Israelis. Kristen Ess writes from Rafah, Gaza. 

Leveling Gaza

Arjan El Fassed Rafah, Palestine 11 February 2002

Two little girls, Manar and Sabine are showing us around blocks O and J of Rafah refugee camp, the site of Israel’s largest home demolition operation since the start of the uprising in September 2000. “What’s your name?”, I asked a little guy walking around the rubble of demolished homes in Rafah’s refugee camp. “I am Mahmoud,” he said. The boy, perhaps 10-years-old, looks disturbed. 

With neighbors like these

Jennifer Loewenstein Rafah, Palestine 1 May 2002

“They raise their children to hate.” That’s what we’re told about the Palestinians. Watch the TV news. Listen to the radio. Pick up the dramatic US news magazines. Ask the intellectuals and the political pundits. 

A requiem for the damned

Jennifer Loewenstein Rafah, Palestine 11 April 2002

I no longer believe there should be a Jewish State, and the millions of Palestinians who have long recognized Israel’s existence and hoped that some recompense for their 54 years of suffering might come from repeatedly kissing the asses of their white colonial masters here and in the US are rightly questioning why they’re still doing it. 

Life in Rafah - March 2, 2002

Ben Granby Rafah, Palestine 5 April 2002

I set out to Rafah with Mahmud from work on mid-Thursday. The route to Rafah crosses two roads used exclusively by Israeli settlers, which for us Palestinian kinfolk entails long waits at military checkpoints. On this day we managed to only spend about 30-45 minutes waiting in the sun, as once a few scheduled Eged busses full of Israeli settlers passed, we were free to cross in our taxi. 

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