Rebuilding Homes in Rachel Corrie's Name - Multicultural Artists Perform to Bring Hope, Healing to Gaza & World

The life of a Hiroshima survivor, a Jewish Americans poetry, and the beauty of dance came together in performance of Journeying Home: Celebrating Whats Possible" at the We the People Auditorium in Oakland to benefit the Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Project in Gaza. .

Oakland, CA (PRWEB) June 12, 2004 -- During times of conflict, celebration is subversive: it reaffirms and renews," said event coordinator Emily Lin, a Methodist divinity school graduate who lived in Gaza for over a year. We celebrate the rebuilding movement knowing our actions rebuild not only the physical and concrete, but also rebuild and repair that place -- home -- we each journey towards, spiritually and emotionally."

In May, 178 homes were demolished in Rafah, Gaza, and homes continue to be destroyed there each night. The Rebuilding Alliance, partnering with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, will make a down payment this week to rebuild the first home of The Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Project, the home the late American Rachel Corrie defended by standing before a bulldozer that did not stop. This is the first rebuildling, in an effort that will help rebuild Rafah neighborhoods, home by home.

"Here, we know what happens when people have an ownership stake in a home and that is transformative," said Mark Moulton, Board Chair of The Rebuilding Alliance and Founding Director of Peninsula Habitat for Humanity. "With Journeying Home we are celebrating our commitment to go through the valley, on the ground with Israelis and Palestinians who refuse to be enemies, to make the legally-binding commitments it will take to reach the mountaintop."

Eth-Noh-Tecs Takashis Dream," based on the life of Takashi Tanemori, an atom bomb survivor from Hiroshima, was performed with Mr. Tanemori, founder of Silkworm Peace Institute in Lafayette, in attendance. Janet Tobacmen presented Rooftop Poems" in multimedia format. Fun triumphed and cynicism took a break as the WingIt! Performance Ensemble boldly danced and told stories to heal the conflicts and splits in our individual and communal lives. New work by photographer Rita Coury were on display and dancing to the music of Divinyl Echo DJs rounded out the night.

Journeying Home" was sponsored by The Rebuilding Alliance and an interfaith coalition of the American Friends Service Committee, the Arab Cultural and Community Center, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Middle East Childrens Alliance. The Rebuilding Alliance, a nonprofit organization based in Redwood City California, supports Israelis and Palestinians who refuse to be enemies, showing their conviction by rebuilding demolished homes and schools in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and Israel. For more information, check www.RebuildingAlliance.org.