Rachel Corrie death ruled an accident by Israeli Court
An Israeli court rules that the death of an American activist crushed to death by an army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip, was a “regrettable accident”, absolving the army of any blame for her death.
The court rejected a lawsuit against the military by Rachel Corrie’s parents, who claimed that her death was unlawful.
They accused Israel of intentionally and unlawfully killing their 23-year-old daughter in 2003 and launched a civil case after a military investigation had cleared the army of wrong-doing.
The American activist was opposed to the military’s demolition of Palestinian homes and died while trying to block the path of a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip.
Judge Oded Gershon said Corrie’s death was a “regrettable accident”, but invoked a clause that absolved the army because the incident had happened during a war-time situation. He added that Rachel Corrie had ignored warnings to leave the area.
Verdict ‘contradicts international law’
The Corries did not speak immediately after the verdict was announced. Their lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, said the verdict contradicted “the fundamental principles of international law with regard to protection of human rights defenders”.
“While not surprising, this verdict is yet another example of where impunity has prevailed over accountability and fairness,” he 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.”
While not surprising, this verdict is yet another example of where impunity has prevailed over accountability and fairness. Hussein Abu Hussein, Corrie family lawyer
Born in Olympia, Washington, Rachel Corrie was a volunteer with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement.
Her friends said she had been standing on a mound of earth when the bulldozer advanced and that she had lost her footing as the ground moved. They said they had shouted at the driver to stop but that he ignored their cries. She was wearing a bright orange vest at the time of the incident but the bulldozer driver said he never saw her.
‘Brought upon herself’
However Judge Oded Gershon said Corrie “put herself in a dangerous situation” and called her death “the result of an accident she brought upon herself” in his explanation of the district court’s ruling. He said the military conducted a proper investigation, and rejected the Corrie family’s request for a symbolic $1 in damages and legal expenses.
At the time of her death, during a Palestinian uprising, Corrie was protesting against Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Her death made the 23-year-old a symbol of the uprising, and while her family battled through the courts to establish who was responsible for her killing, her story was dramatised on stage in a dozen countries and told in the book Let Me Stand Alone.
Few Israelis showed much sympathy for Corrie’s death, which took place at the height of the second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) in which thousands of Palestinians were killed and hundreds of Israelis died in suicide bombings.
Senior U.S. officials criticised the original military investigation into the case, saying it had been neither thorough nor credible. But the judge said the inquiry had been appropriate and pinned no blame on the army.