The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project
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We should be inspired by people... who show that human beings can be kind, brave, generous, beautiful, strong-even in the most difficult circumstances.
Female
30 years old
Olympia, WASHINGTON
United States
Last Login: 4/12/2007
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The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project's Interests
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The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project's Details
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| Status: | In a Relationship | | Here for: | Friends | | Hometown: | Rafah, Palestine | | Zodiac Sign: | Aries | | Occupation: | End the occupaton! |
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The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project's Latest Blog Entry
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Questions and answers about the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project
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A letter from Adnan Abu Al Su'ud
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Help get ORSCP a cool $10 grand for continuing work in Rafah without dropping a penny
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Makin' it Legal
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Oly+Rafah Community Mural Projects Event: January 26
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The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project's Blurbs |
About me:
Watch this space for further updates. This text will change over time.
Mission:
The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project actively promotes and fosters friendships between the people of Olympia, Washington and Rafah, Palestine, for the purpose of strengthening cross-cultural awareness and understanding, international cooperation, justice, and peace.
 Vision:
The sister city project that bonds Olympia, Washington and Rafah, Palestine was envisioned by local peace activist and friend, Rachel Corrie (1979-2003). Through her dedication to social justice and acute cognizance of the Israeli military occupation, she believed that cultural exchanges between our two communities could result in significant social change.
Following in Rachel's footsteps, we will collaborate with the people of Rafah to create lasting friendships across borders and bridge cultural gaps through popular education, advocacy, communication, and community exchange. These friendships help us to educate ourselves, increase awareness, and demonstrate solidarity in a common struggle for a just and prompt peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Participate:
Meetings are on the 1st Thursday of each month at The Olympia Center (222 Columbia Street) at 7 p.m. Get updates, find out how to participate and share your ideas.
QUOTES
 "I continue to believe that my home, Olympia, could gain a lot and offer a lot by deciding to make a commitment to Rafah in the form of a sister-community relationship. Some teachers and children's groups have expressed interest in e-mail exchanges, but this is only the tip of the iceberg of solidarity work that might be done. Many people want their voices to be heard, and I think we need to use some of our privilege as internationals to get those voices heard directly in the US, rather than through the filter of well-meaning internationals such as myself. I am just beginning to learn, from what I expect to be a very intense tutelage, about the ability of people to organize against all odds, and to resist against all odds." --Rachel Corrie, in an email to her family from Rafah, Palestine, February 7, 2003
 "Americans also need to hear the stories of the people of the Muslim world. We need to understand their challenges and their cultures and their hopes; to speak their languages and read their literature; to know their cultures in the deepest sense. Our interaction must be a conversation, not a monologue. We must reach out and explain, but we must also listen. Student exchanges and sister city programs and professional contacts helped forge lasting ties of friendship and understanding across the Atlantic and across the barriers of tyranny during the Cold War. Similar efforts today can achieve similar results between Americans and Muslim peoples throughout the world."
-- Remarks by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. in August of 2004
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Who I'd like to meet:
Anyone in Olympia or Ragah, or interested in direct connections between Olympia and Rafah. Anyone interested in starting a sister city project between their own community and one in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Anyone who realizes that humanity can reach beyond walls, closed military zones, curfews, economic strangulation, armies and hatred.
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| The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project's Friend Space (Top 20) |
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The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project has 41 friends.
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