Imagine a roof over your head and a respectable job, providing for your family and building your community -- and a sense of relief in your family home, knowing no risk of eviction and no threat of demolition. Al Aqaba Village, one of the 149 Palestinian villages in the West...

March 17, 2011

Michael Posner Assistant Secretary, Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
United States Department of State

Dear Secretary Posner,

I thank you for guiding the U.S. participation in the U.N.'s Universal Periodic Review process. I also wish to acknowledge the assistance of the Government of Norway in...

This week, an historic Polish-Israeli cabinet session is underway in Israel, reflecting both a deep, often turbulent historical bond and a new friendship, nurtured in the twenty+ years since Poland won independence. However, given that Jerusalem is one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Poland displays a blatant...

How do I describe the thrill of receiving a Medal of Gratitude before 25,000 people? -- humbly and with sheer joy!

On August 31, 2010, 25,000 people gathered at the Gdansk Shipyard in Poland to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of Polish Solidarity Movement.

The moon was full when we chose to end our Ramadan fast and so begin our trip across the world to Poland, where I am to receive an international award. The requirements of Ramadan -- though always a personal choice -- state that one may break the fast during travel....

There is good news in the civil case of Abir Aramin, a little girl who was killed in 2007 by an Israeli soldier's rubber-coated steel bullet just outside her school. On Monday, Aug. 16th, Judge Irit Efal-Gabai issued her ruling on behalf of Israel's Civil Court. Her decision...

I love the morning. I awoke before the alarm, worried that it might not go off only to see I was 10 minutes early. Great to hear beautiful music and head down to breakfast.

My husband Martin says we eat better during Ramadan. We certainly eat with more attention and...

Our alarm played classical music at 4:02 this morning, and so we awoke for breakfast before dawn. Though we are not Muslim, this will be my fifth year fasting for the month of Ramadan, and Martin, my husband's, fourth. The morning sky was filled with stars and a few clouds...

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, the Israeli High Court of Justice heard arguments in an appeal to reopen the investigation in the killing of Abir Aramin.  The court did not make a final ruling but instead, as stated in the

Not unexpectedly, our shipment of gently worn soccer shoes for Gaza was held-up in Cairo.  We've learned the shoes were transferred to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, as yet without release for transit to Gaza.   Meanwhile, the Rachel Corrie Foundation's delegation of 10 were delayed at the Rafah, Gaza border, then allowed to...

The Rachel Corrie Ramadan Soccer Tournament is now underway in Rafah, Gaza on a field cleared from the rubble of demolished homes. The Rebuilding Alliance, the organization I founded to rebuild war-torn communities and make them safe, just sent a shipment of 16 big boxes of gently worn sports shoes...

Dear Friends,

"You are a beacon to us all" - that is what Roger Waters of Pink Floyd said in his message of solidarity with the Gaza Freedom March. He made me think about the many colleagues in Gaza and in Israel who are my beacons -- so I picked...