OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON, October 11, 2012 (WAFA) – American peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003, was awarded on Tuesday the 2012 LennonOno Grant for Peace, according to a press release by the Rachel Corrie Foundation.
The award was presented by Yoko Ono in Reykjavik, Iceland, to Corrie’s parents, Craig and Cindy, who accepted it on their daughter’s behalf. The event marks the birthdays of artist John Lennon and his son Sean.
Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old American peace activist and human rights defender from Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer March 16, 2003, as she stood nonviolently to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family's home in Rafah, Gaza.
In August, a court in Haifa, Israel, dismissed the Corrie family's wrongful death civil lawsuit against the State of Israel for Rachel's killing. The verdict was widely condemned as setting dangerous precedent regarding protection of civilians, and putting at serious risk human rights defenders in war zones and armed conflict situations.
In the official announcement of the biennial award, IMAGINE PEACE noted the work of the Rachel Corrie Foundation to which the monetary grant prize has been given.
“In the wake of her killing, the Rachel Corrie Foundation continues the work that Rachel Corrie began. The Foundation conducts programs that foster connections between people, that build understanding, respect, and appreciation for differences, and that promote cooperation within and between local and global communities. The Foundation encourages and supports grassroots efforts in pursuit of human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice, which they view as pre-requisites for world peace,” said IMAGINE PEACE.
“Rachel would be greatly surprised and humbled by this recognition,” Cindy Corrie said after receiving the award. “Her hope would be that it could somehow contribute to bringing people together to work passionately for justice, and to do so with the utmost respect for the rights and lives of all human beings.”
Rachel's father, Craig Corrie, added: “We are grateful that Ms. Ono has chosen to recognize our daughter in such a wonderful way. Rachel must be smiling somewhere to imagine her memory linked in any way with that of John Lennon. Perhaps they smile together.”
Yoko Ono, the Corries, and other LennonOno Grant for Peace recipients participated following the award ceremony in the annual lighting of the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER on the island of Viðey in Iceland.
Ono urged people worldwide to join her in spirit as she lights the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER in honor of all activists - past, present, and future - and to let the power of light become a collective expression of the desire for peace and harmony on the planet.
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