Rachel Corrie trial: Israeli court clears Israeli Army of killing solidarity activist

» Mark Moloney

'The driver cannot have failed to see her . . . The driver didn’t slow down; he just ran over her. Then he reversed the bulldozer back over her again'

AN ISRAELI COURT has cleared the Israeli Defence Forces of any wrongdoing in the crushing to death of 23-year-old US peace activist Rachel Corrie near Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, in March 2003.

A statement from the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice, set up by her parents following her death, said: “While not surprising, this verdict is yet another example of where impunity has prevailed over accountability and fairness.”

Rachel Corrie (right), from Olympia in Washington, had travelled to Palestine as a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She was crushed to death while attempting to block an Israeli military armoured bulldozer from destroying a Palestinian family's home on the Gaza/Egypt border.

During the second Palestinian uprising the Israeli military decided to extend what it calls a “buffer zone” around the territory, and to do this they began destroying the homes of Palestinian families. The soldier driving the vehicle claimed he did not see her but witnesses said he had a clear view of her and still knocked her down before reversing over her body.

Eyewitness Richard Purssell from Brighton in England said:

“She was standing on top of a pile of earth. The driver cannot have failed to see her. As the blade pushed the pile, the earth rose up. Rachel slid down the pile. It looks as if her foot got caught. The driver didn’t slow down; he just ran over her. Then he reversed the bulldozer back over her again.”

Corrie's parents launched a civil lawsuit against Israel “as a last resort” and were looking for a symbolic $1 in damages and legal expenses. The lawsuit claimed the Israeli miltiary was responsible for either unlawfully or intentionally killing Rachel or of gross negligence.

There were audible gasps in the courtroom on the second day of the trial as an Israeli military training officer leader stated  calmly “during war there are no civilians”.

In 2005, a British court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Major General Doron Almog (right), who oversaw the destruction of 59 homes in Rafah in 2002. He later cancelled a planned trip to Britain for fear that he would be arrested. Meanwhile, Israeli newspaper Haaretz previously reported that army documents in their possession show the major gave a direct order to cut the investigation short and attempted to block the bulldozer driver from having to testify.

Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein said:

“The documents proves it, black on white, that there was an attempt to prevent the bulldozer driver from giving a full testimony on the circumstances in which the deceased was killed.”

Judge Oded Gershon dismissed the case today (Tuesday), ruling that Rachel Corrie had been protecting terrorists in a designated combat zone and had not moved out of the way of danger as any reasonable person would have done. He went on to describe the incident as “a regrettable accident”.

Speaking after the verdict, Attorney Abu Hussein said:

“Rachel Corrie was killed while non-violently protesting home demolitions and injustice in Gaza, and today this court has given its stamp of approval to flawed and illegal practices that failed to protect civilian life . . . In denying justice in Rachel Corrie’s killing, this verdict speaks of the systemic failure to hold the Israeli military accountable for continuing violations of basic human rights.”