News

Jerusalem – On Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Ministry will go on
trial as a court hears a case filed by the parents of an American woman
run down by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza, in March 2003.

A civil suit seeks to hold Israeli forces responsible for the death
of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old activist who was crushed to death as she
protested a Palestinian home from demolition in the Gaza Strip.

“We claim that her assassination was intentional,” or, at the very
least, that the army is guilty of “huge negligence,” Hussein Abu
Hussein, the attorney who filed the petition on behalf of Corrie’s
parents, commented.

Abu Hussein cites the state’s acknowledgment of the fact that Corrie
and other members of the International Solidarity Movement—a
Palestinian-led peace organization that advocates non-violent means of
resistance to the Israeli occupation—were demonstrating in the area for
several hours before Corrie was struck by the bulldozer. He also points
out that Corrie was wearing a fluorescent orange vest to increase her
visibility.

At the time of her death, the Israeli military response was that the
driver of the machine did not see Corrie.

“If you see people, you should stop and think of all the needed
steps not to harm them >>>