"An Israeli bulldozer killed poor Rachel Corrie
As she stood in its path in the town of Rafah
She lost her young life in an act of compassion
Trying to protect the poor people of Gaza
Whose homes are destroyed by tank shells and bulldozers And whose plight is exploited by suicide bombers
Who kill in the name of the people of Gaza
But Rachel Corrie believed in non-violent resistance
Put herself in harm's way as a shield of the people
And paid with her life in a manner most brutal"

På "The Times They Are A-Changin'" spelade Bob Dylan in The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll", om en svart servitris som slogs ihjäl med en käpp - in a manner most brutal - på ett hotell i Baltimore 1963.

Nu har Billy Bragg spelat in en ny version av Dylans klassiker: The Lonesome Death of Rachel Corrie, om den amerikanska fredsaktivisten som krossades under den bulldozer som skulle riva det palestinska hus hon skyddade med sin kropp. Låten går att ladda ner från The Guardian med länken ovan.

Den direkta orsaken är att en pjäs, baserad på Rachel Collies texter, stoppats från att framföras på teaterscenen i New York. "That she herself should be silenced - first by an Israeli bulldozer, next by a New York theatre cancelling a play created from her words - is a testimony to the power of her message", skriver Bragg.

"The artistic director of a New York theatre
Cancelled a play based on Rachel's writings
But she wasn't a bomber or a killer or fighter
But one who acted in the spirit of the Freedom Riders
Is there no place for a voice in America
That doesn't conform to the Fox News agenda?

But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears."

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