Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice

Background

The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice was founded in 2003 and is based in Olympia, Washington. ¹ The organization later achieved tax-exempt status in August 2004 claiming to be an international, foreign affairs, and national security advocacy organization. ⁴ The organization is named after Rachel Corrie, an Olympia, Washington resident and Evergreen State College student who was killed in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah in 2003 after being struck by an Israeli military bulldozer while participating in a protest against the demolition of Palestinian homes. ⁵

Cindy Corrie and Craig Corrie, Rachel Corrie’s parents, later founded the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, with early activities including school talks, media appearances, advocacy related to investigations into Rachel Corrie’s death, and support for a proposed Olympia-Rafah sister-city project. ⁶

In later years, the organization expanded its activities to include pro-Palestinian advocacy, cultural programming, boycott and divestment campaigns, and support for activism related to Gaza and the Palestinian territories. ^{1  2  3}

Advocacy

BDS

The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice’s advocacy has included support for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS)-aligned campaigns, movements that use consumer boycotts, institutional divestment, and legal sanctions to isolate Israel economically and politically, including efforts to pressure public institutions and governments to divest from companies tied to Israel or Israeli military activity. ^{2  7}

In 2016, Cindy Corrie of the Rachel Corrie Foundation and Free Speech Washington criticized anti-BDS legislation in Washington state and defended the ability of activists to “utilize BDS” as a response to Israeli policy. ⁷

Washington State and Olympia Divestment Advocacy

The Rachel Corrie Foundation was involved in local divestment advocacy in Olympia, Washington, related to public investment policies. ² In 2026, the American Friends Service Committee reported that Olympia had amended its Investment Policy Statement to restrict investments in companies the city claimed were involved in “weapons production, illegal military occupation, racial segregation, apartheid, war crimes, slavery, or prison labor,” and characterized the change as the result of a local campaign coordinated by the Rachel Corrie Foundation. ²

In 2026, the left-of-center anti-Israel online publication Mondoweiss reported that the Olympia City Council unanimously voted to include investment restrictions related to apartheid and illegal occupation in its ethical investment policy. ⁸ Mondoweiss also reported that the campaign followed activism by Palestine Action of the South Sound (PASS), the Olympia-based arm of the anti-Israel group Palestine Action, that had formed after the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. ⁸

The Foundation was also connected to Washington state-level divestment activism involving manufacturing company Caterpillar, criticized by pro-Palestinian activists over the use of its bulldozers by the Israeli military. ⁸ In 2025, Reuters reported that the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund had divested from Caterpillar on ethics grounds related to the alleged use of Caterpillar equipment by Israeli authorities in Gaza and the West Bank, while the U.S. State Department criticized the decision as based on “illegitimate claims” against Caterpillar and Israel. ⁹

Washington for Peace and Justice

Rachel Corrie Foundation partnered with activists who later formed Washington for Peace and Justice, a lobbying and advocacy organization that described itself as a state-level Palestinian-led lobbying organization in Washington state. ³ Washington for Peace and Justice claimed that Palestinian-Washingtonian activists partnered with the Rachel Corrie Foundation in late 2023 to convene a coalition to lobby in Olympia for Palestinian interests and against legislation the coalition opposed. ³

Washington for Peace and Justice later listed the Rachel Corrie Foundation as a signatory to a letter to then-Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) alongside groups including the Council on American-Islamic Relations Washington (CAIR-WA), Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestine Action of South Sound (PASS), Veterans for Peace, and the Middle Eastern Legal Association of Washington. ¹⁰

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi Investigation

Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice was involved in advocacy related to Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a University of Washington graduate and International Solidarity Movement volunteer who was killed in the West Bank in 2024. ¹¹

In 2026, Council on American-Islamic Relations Washington (CAIR-WA) stated that it was working with Washington for Peace and Justice, For Aysenur, and the Rachel Corrie Foundation to push Washington state to demand justice for Eygi’s family. ¹¹

The Washington State Legislature considered Senate Joint Memorial 8014 in 2026, which requested that the United States open a transparent, thorough, and independent investigation into Eygi’s death. ¹² The legislation referenced Rachel Corrie and asserted that the families of Rachel Corrie and Aysenur Ezgi Eygi continued to seek accountability together. ¹³

The Washington State Journal reported in January 2026 that dozens of Washington legislators called on President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials to investigate Eygi’s killing. ¹⁴

Public Education and Cultural Programming

Cause IQ’s summary of the Rachel Corrie Foundation’s 2024 program activity reported that the organization had hosted Social Justice Block Parties at the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural during Olympia Arts Walks, an outdoor Nakba display, a holiday bazaar featuring Palestinian arts and crafts, and educational outreach through newsletters, social media, and print materials. ¹

In 2024, Palestine Action of South Sound (PASS) reported that the Olympia Film Society and the Rachel Corrie Foundation presented a screening of Foragers as a benefit for Palestinian children in Gaza, with an introduction by Cindy Corrie and a post-film presentation involving a professor from the Evergreen State College and a representative of PASS. ¹⁵

Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural

Rachel Corrie Foundation was involved in the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural, a public art and political-advocacy project in Olympia, Washington. ¹⁶ The Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural Project claimed that the project began in 2006 and was co-produced by Break the Silence Arts Project and the Rachel Corrie Foundation, with co-sponsorship from the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), the International Trauma Treatment Program, and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP). ¹⁶

The mural project’s website claimed that the project involved more than 150 groups and individuals and sought to link Olympia, Washington, and Rafah in Gaza through public art. ¹⁶ In 2014, ThurstonTalk reported that the mural traced back to 2006, when artist Susan Greene came to Olympia and met with members of the Rachel Corrie Foundation about a collaborative project. ¹⁷

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs reported in 2010 that the Rachel Corrie Foundation and Break the Silence Mural Project unveiled the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural in downtown Olympia. ¹⁸ The publication described the mural as including more than 150 leaves representing issues including environmental policy, “race-based activism,” “colonialism,” “indigenous peoples’ rights,” and anti-war activism. ¹⁸

Coalition Advocacy and National Campaigns

In 2014, the Rachel Corrie Foundation joined American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the United States Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (USCEIO), and Jewish Voice for Peace in a joint submission to the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review of the United States related to U.S. human rights obligations toward Palestinians and human rights defenders. ¹⁹

The Foundation was also listed as a supporting organization for the No Way to Treat a Child campaign, a campaign associated with Defense for Children International-Palestine and the American Friends Service Committee that advocated against Israel’s detention of Palestinian minors. ²⁰ The campaign’s supporting-organization list also included groups such as Oxfam America, Our Revolution, Peace Action, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), RootsAction, Sunrise Movement, the Working Families Party (WFP), and the United States Campaign for Palestinian Rights. ²⁰

In 2010, the Rachel Corrie Foundation joined the United States Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (USCEIO), the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), and Jewish Voice for Peace in calling on the Obama administration to stop deliveries of Caterpillar bulldozers to the Israeli military. ²¹ The groups claimed that Caterpillar equipment had been used by the Israeli military in activities including home demolitions, destruction of infrastructure and agriculture, and construction of Israeli settlements and the Israeli security barrier in the West Bank. ²¹

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported in 2024 that the Rachel Corrie Foundation had co-sponsored events with groups including Students for Justice in Palestine and Friends of Sabeel North America. ²² The ADL also connected the Foundation’s broader activism to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). ²²

Controversies

Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice has drawn criticism because of its relationship to the legacy of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the pro-Palestinian activist organization with which Rachel Corrie traveled to Gaza before her death. ²² The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has criticized the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice’s relationship to the legacy of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) claiming that ISM had expressed support for terrorist organizations and individuals. ²²

The Foundation’s support for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS)-aligned advocacy has also drawn criticism, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) having characterized BDS as an international campaign aimed at isolating Israel diplomatically, financially, professionally, academically, and culturally, and claimed that BDS campaigns can contribute to the isolation and intimidation of Jews and supporters of Israel. ²³

In 2025, a Fox News opinion column criticized the Rachel Corrie Foundation as part of a broader alleged network of anti-Israel activism. ²⁴ The column claimed that the Foundation’s resource list included several books sympathetic to Hamas and further claimed that the organization had given out a $150 disbursement for a program connected to “Students Educating Students about the Middle East (SESAME)” at Evergreen State. ²⁴

Financials

According to Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice’s 2024 tax filing, the organization reported $289,996 in revenue, $164,233 in expenses, and $223,664 in total assets. ²⁵ The organization’s 2024 revenue was primarily derived from contributions, which accounted for $284,533 of its total revenue. ²⁵ Cause IQ has reported funding for the Foundation from several philanthropic organizations and donor-advised-fund providers, including Network for Good, which reportedly provided $53,737 in unrestricted support, and the American Online Giving Foundation, which reportedly provided $15,260 in general support. Cause IQ also reported that the Foundation received $7,250 from Humanities Washington for COVID recovery funds provided through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. ¹

Cause IQ further reported that Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice made grants to several organizations, including $6,664 to the Middle East Children’s Alliance, $2,500 to the Evergreen State College Foundation, and $750 to the Gaza Mental Health Foundation. ¹

Leadership

As of 2026, Cynthia “Cindy” Corrie was president of the Rachel Corrie Foundation. Corrie founded the organization with her husband Craig after their daughter, Rachel Corrie, was killed in Gaza in 2003 after being struck by an Israeli military bulldozer. ²⁶

As of 2026, Craig Corrie was treasurer of the Rachel Corrie Foundation. ²⁶