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This is Sarah Corrie Simpson’s first visit to Israel. Her younger
sister, Rachel Corrie, was killed by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer
in Gaza in 2003, at the age of 23. Now, the family is suing the state in
the Haifa District Court.

“I’m glad the day is finally here, that the eyewitnesses are having a
chance to talk in a court of law,” she said in an interview with
Haaretz on Thursday. “It’s been seven long years.”

The witnesses, who include Rachel’s colleagues in the left-wing
International Solidarity Movement, say Rachel climbed atop a mount of
dirt to be sure the driver could see her, Simpson said. When he
nevertheless kept coming at her, she tried to flee, but tripped and
fell. “The bulldozer driver kept driving with the blade down, pushing
the dirt over Rachel, and stopped when her body was under the cab.”

“My father served in the military in Vietnam and was responsible for
bulldozer operations,” Simpson added. “He said there is no way that
what happened to Rachel would have happened on his watch.”

She rejects the IDF’s claim that the area was an active combat zone.
The witnesses claim no shots were being fired, she said, so the army
could have stopped the operation and removed the demonstrators. But in
any case, she added, international law requires soldiers to try to
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