16 March 2010
Students of Kafr Sur Secondary School, who have been working on a research project about Rachel’s life and death, today marked the anniversary with a march to a memorial stone at the entrance to the village. The students were joined by children from the nearby primary school, as the stone was unveiled and speeches were delivered by the headmaster, one of the students, and an ISM activist.
At both events, speakers talked of the lasting impact left by Rachel, as an inspiration to those involved with the non-violent resistance in Palestine and across the world. Rachel’s mother spoke about how her daughter has become a symbol for the anti-Occupation movement, and of how grateful she and her family are to the Palestinians they have come to know and love over the past seven years for their unfailing support, despite the suffering they themselves continue to experience.
The coming weeks also mark the seventh anniversaries of the shootings of the British activist Thomas Hurndall, who was shot in the head whilst shielding children in Rafah from Israeli sniper fire, and who died in hospital nine months later, and Brian Avery, an American who was shot in the face in Jenin, but who mercifully survived. Last weekend saw the one year anniversary of Tristan Anderson being hit in the head with a high velocity tear gas canister in Nilin. Tristan is still recovering in an Israeli hospital.