Rachel Corrie: Court rules Israel not at fault for death

 

 Ms Corrie was an activist with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM)

An Israeli court has ruled that the state of Israel was not at fault for the death of US activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003.

Ms Corrie's family had brought a civil claim for negligence against the Israeli ministry of defence.
The judge said the 23-year-old's death was a "regrettable accident" and that the state was not responsible.
She had been trying to stop Palestinian homes being pulled down in Gaza.
Judge Oded Gershon, presiding at the court in the town of Haifa, said Ms Corrie had been protecting terrorists in a designated combat zone.
He said the bulldozer driver had not seen her, adding the soldiers had done their utmost to keep people away from the site. "She [Corrie] did not distance herself from the area, as any thinking person would have done."

At the scene

Jon Donnison BBC News, Haifa

Rachel Corrie's parents, Cindy and Craig, looked dejected after the verdict was read out. Friends and supporters in court offered hugs and handshakes. But nine years after their daughter was killed, they have failed in their attempt to get the Israeli army to take responsibility for Rachel's death.
Speaking after the ruling, the family's lawyer was quick to say they would appeal against the decision in Israel's supreme court.
For Cindy and Craig Corrie, that will prolong what must have already been an exhausting and expensive process. Their legal fight is believed to have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
They regarded their daughter as a peace activist, passionately behind the Palestinian cause and trying to protect civilians. On Tuesday, they listened to a judge tell them the activists she was working with were acting as human shields for terrorists.

He ruled the state of Israel did not have to pay any damages. The Corries had requested a symbolic $1 in damages and legal expenses.

They had accused Israel of intentionally and unlawfully killing their daughter, and failing to conduct a full and credible investigation.
An Israeli army investigation in 2003 concluded its forces were not to blame for Ms Corrie's death.
Cindy and Craig Corrie travelled to Israel from the US to hear the ruling along with a group of friends and activists.
After the ruling, Mrs Corrie told a press conference they wanted to see more accountability from the state of Israel, saying they had been "deeply troubled by what we heard today".
"From the beginning it was clear to us that there was... a well-heeled system to protect the Israeli military, the soldiers who conduct actions in that military, to provide them with impunity at the cost of all the civilians who are impacted by what they do," she said.
She said she believed at least one person in the bulldozer had seen their daughter, and that Rachel's death "could have been and should have been avoided".

Rachel Corrie's mother, Cindy: ''This was a bad day for humanity''

She added: "I believe this is a bad day not only for our family, but a bad day for human rights, for humanity, for the rule of law and also for the country of Israel."
The family's lawyer has said they will appeal against the ruling to Israel's supreme court.
Human shields Ms Corrie was a committed peace activist even before her arrival in the Gaza Strip in 2002.
She had arranged peace events in her home town in Washington State and become a volunteer for the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
In 2003, Ms Corrie was in the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip as part of a group of ISM protesters.

International Solidarity Movement (ISM)

• Palestinian-led movement founded in 2001
• Declared aim to resist Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using "non-violent means"; says it recognises Palestinian right to "legitimate armed struggle"
• Has branches in several countries and is supported by foreign volunteers
• Activities include protests against Israeli demolitions of Palestinian houses, West Bank barrier and Israel's blockade of Gaza Strip
• Organised controversial 2010 Gaza flotilla
• High-profile deaths of members include: Rachel Corrie; Tom Hurndall (shot by Israeli soldier in 2005); and Vittorio Arrigoni (killed by Salafists in Gaza in 2011)
• Accused by Israel of "radical anti-Israeli politics, combined with... illegal and provocative methods"

They were acting as human shields to try to stop the Israeli army demolishing Palestinian homes and clearing land around Rafah.

The Israeli army argued the area was being used by militants and that the protesters should not have been in a closed military zone.
The army's investigation found that Ms Corrie was not visible and that she was killed by debris falling on her.
But Ms Corrie's supporters say it is impossible that the bulldozer driver did not see her.
"The bulldozer had a clear line across open ground while it drove towards her, relatively slowly, 20 or 30 metres or so, and even the estimation of the bulldozer's line of sight... would clearly suggest that during that time the bulldozer driver must have seen Rachel," activist Tom Dale, who was protesting alongside Rachel Corrie on the day she was killed, told the BBC.
"As I told the court, at the very last moment, just before the bulldozer crushed her, her head appeared above the top of the bulldozer blade, and again that would clearly mean that the bulldozer driver must have seen her."
Pictures taken on the day Ms Corrie died show her in an orange high-visibility jacket carrying a megaphone and blocking the path of an Israeli military bulldozer.
A collection of Ms Corrie's writings was turned into a play - My Name Is Rachel Corrie - which has toured all over the world, including Israel and the Palestinian territories.
An aid ship intercepted by the Israeli military in 2010 while trying to break the blockade of Gaza was named after her.