Rachel Corrie would have been 30 years old this year on April 10. I did not know Corrie and yet when I heard the news of her death in 2003, I felt that a very close relative of mine had died. I guess this summed up who really Corrie was.

She was killed while trying valiantly to defend a Palestinian home in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, from getting bulldozed by the Israeli army. She did not have to do this.

She was from Olympia, State of Washington, an American who could have lived a very comfortable life in the United States.

Yet she was in such solidarity with the Palestinian people, ignited by a passion of justice, she chose to travel to the war - torn Gaza to lend a helping hand to the helpless. She may not have saved Palestinian homes (after all what could one person do against a bulldozer and the might of the Israeli army) but she did save the solidarity movement with the Palestinians forever.

Her sacrifice has become synonymous with the moral quest for justice and equality. In the land of Palestine where the American flag is used only to light a fire, the people of Gaza held a mock funeral with the coffin draped in an American flag to commemorate Rachel Corrie. This was the power and courage of Corrie that has changed our hearts and minds forever.

KHURRAM HANEEF

New Jersey, USA