The house of Dr. Samir Nasrallah, which was demolished in march 2003 will be rebuilt in the honor of the American peace activist Rachel Corrie who was killed while trying to protect this house from being demolished.
Corrie, 23, was killed when an Israeli army D9 Caterpillar bulldozer ran her over on March 16, 2003.
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The house, which was home to two families, will b rebuilt by International peace activists from Corrie’s hometown Olympia in Washington, who collected donations from many Americans.
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During her involvement with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Corrie lived with Samir Nasrallah’s family during a wide-scale home demolition operation carried out by the Israeli army in Rafah during which more than 2000 Palestinian houses were leveled to the ground creating a buffer zone after forcing all the civilians out of the southern Gaza Strip area.
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Dr. Nasrallah, a pharmacist in Rafah, witnessed the murder of Corrie and was among those to get to Rachel after she was crushed by the bulldozer.
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The family rented a house after its house was demolished, stayed in it for one year before it was demolished again in May 2004, in another military operation called, ‘Rain Bow’ in which some 120 Palestinian houses were demolished in Rafah.
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Last week, a ceremony to set the corner stone of the new house was held in Rafah.  Dr. Nasrallah said in the opening ceremony, ‘This house will be a symbol of love and peace that would connect the Palestinian and the American peoples in solidarity. It will also materialize the peace, friendship, and believe in freedom that Rachel wanted.’
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Nasrallah’s house will be the first to be rebuilt in Rachel Corrie’s Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza sponsored by the American organization ‘the Rebuilding Alliance.’
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In this project, the Rebuilding Alliance aims to rebuild homes in Gaza Strip demolished by the Israeli army, and to bring attention of the world to the situation in the Gaza Strip hoping that they can end this situation.
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‘With the Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Project in Gaza we hope to rebuild hope, one house at a time. We are honored to have the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme join us as the sponsoring NGO. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights provides legal services for the project. It’s a huge undertaking, but one that has the potential to turn the world’s eye on this desperate situation and bring home demolitions to an end forever,’ the organization’s website reads.
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‘I want to thank all those who contributed to this project, the Rebuilding Alliance, The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, Rachel’s family, friends and supporters,’ Nasrallah said, expressing gratitude to those who will help him get his family together in their house again.
