Rachel’s Words “Break the Silence” at Riverside Church at The Sugar cubes

Congrats to everyone who helped make this a huge success for Rachel, her parents and justice defenders everywhere.

As the traditional Arabic u’d was played by Zafer Tawil and Johnny Faraj, an estimated 1,000 people filled the Riverside Church in NYC on a chilly Wednesday night to hear the words of Rachel Corrie. Rachel was a human rights activist and gifted writer. She was crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer as she tried to protect the home of a Palestinian pharmacist from demolition in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on March 16th, 2003. Rachel was 23. Rachel’s Words was launched by a handful of activists from a NYC apartment in response to the indefinite postponement of the play “My Name is Rachel Corrie” which was scheduled to open at the New York Theatre Workshop on March 22nd.

The play would not open that night in New York City; but Rachel’s words would still be heard.

The evening began with opening remarks from Rachel’s Words organizers (Jen Marlowe, Ann Petter and Tom Wallace) who read statements received from Academy Award winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman (director and co-editor of the play) and Megan Dodds (the actor who plays Rachel in the production). Martin Luther King was invoked, as he had first come out against the war in Vietnam at that very spot in a speech entitled, “A Time to Break Silence.” [Continue...]