Israeli Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in Rachel Corrie Case
The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the family of Rachel Corrie, an American protester crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer more than a decade ago.
Corrie, 23, was killed in 2003 while trying to block the bulldozer from razing Palestinian homes. Her death has been ruled an accident.
Her parents filed suit against Israel’s Ministry of Defense in a quest for accountability and sought just $1 in damages. Previously, a judge ruled that the family has no right to damages, backing an earlier Israeli investigation that cleared any soldier of wrongdoing.
On the question regarding the status of the area where the incident took place, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that found it was a war zone, making the state immune from damages.
“We are disappointed and not surprised by the verdict,” Corrie’s father, Craig Corrie, told CNN. “The international humanitarian law has been really ignored in this verdict as in the lower courts. That’s the law that applies in areas of occupation, and this is really disappointing to us as the family.”
He called for a “credible investigation.”
When asked about next steps, Craig Corrie said that he’s unsure. His family needs time to digest the verdict and talk to attorneys.
The state prosecutor’s office has said the driver of the bulldozer couldn’t see Corrie.
Corrie was nonviolently protesting the demolition of Palestinian civilian homes in Rafah, Gaza, when she died. She was working with the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement at the time.
In 2010, the Israeli soldier who drove the bulldozer testified publicly for the first time — from behind a partition.
The driver’s identity has never been revealed, and he was not charged after a month long Israeli investigation found that no Israeli soldier was to blame. Corrie’s parents cannot take him to court because the Supreme Court has upheld a decision to shield him.
The driver testified repeatedly that he did not see Corrie before he struck her, saying there was a pile of rubble impeding his vision.
By Michael Schwartz and Dana Ford