Cindy and Craig Corrie
In their civil suit now underway in Israel, Cindy and Craig Corrie chose to set the punitive damages at the symbolic amount of $1. They explained that the court’s pronouncement of accountability in their daughter’s death and preventing future harm to others is more important to them than money.
In the face of the violent retaliation that protestors of new settlement construction have encountered, we find hope in their brave statement.
Cindy and Craig Corrie are the parents of Rachel Corrie. On March 16th, 2003, Rachel was killed in Rafah Gaza when she sought to protect the Palestinian family she had been staying with from the Israeli Army bulldozer that threatened their home. To honor their late daughter, Cindy and Craig Corrie founded the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice and have relentlessly advocated for human rights in Israel/Palestine. Cindy currently serves as a Rebuilding Alliance board member, and Craig is on the advisory board.
Professor Richard Falk
Richard Falk is the Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University. Since 2002 he has been a Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
In 2001 he served on a three person United Nations Human Rights Inquiry Commission for the Palestine Territories. Prior to that he served on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo. In 2008, he was appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council to be a special rapporteur for Palestine.
Special Commendation: Congressman Brian Baird
NOTE: We will be honoring the Congressman with a Peacemakers Award, with the Congressman accepting via video link
Congressman Baird is uniquely qualified to be an advocate for Palestinian and Israeli human rights. He has visited Gaza three times and has proved to be a consistent critic of the blockade. He became involved in Palestine/Israel through the case of Rachel Corrie, who was one of his constituents. He is now committed to calling on the international community in general, and the United States in particular, to end the blockade on Gaza and the suffering it has caused.
Congressman Baird brings a unique perspective to the U.S. House of Representatives as a licensed clinical psychologist who has practiced in Washington state and Oregon. He also taught at the university level and is a former chairman of the Department of Psychology at Pacific Lutheran University. Prior to his election, Congressman Baird worked in state and Veterans Administration psychiatric hospitals, community mental health clinics, substance abuse treatment programs, institutions for juvenile offenders and head injury rehabilitation programs.
