Verdict in Rachel Corrie civil suit due Tuesday

A verdict is due Tuesday in a civil case against Israel brought by the family of an American activist killed by a military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip nine years ago.

The family of Rachel Corrie of Olympia, Washington, who was crushed while trying to block an armored bulldozer along the Gaza-Egypt border in 2003, sued the state in an Israeli court in an attempt to show that her death was either intentional or the result of neglect on the part of the army.

The Corries are seeking a symbolic $1 in damages, as well as legal costs.

Hearings on the family’s lawsuit began in the Haifa District Court in 2010. An earlier military investigation cleared troops of wrongdoing, and it was thought unlikely that the Haifa court would reach a markedly different conclusion.

Corrie, who was 23 at the time of her death, arrived in Gaza as a member of the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group that sends activists to interfere with the activities of the Israeli military. Her American citizenship, youth and appearance combined to make her perhaps the best-known of the more than 6,500 people killed during the violence of the second Palestinian Intifada and a symbol for many Western opponents of Israel. The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, established by her family, advocates a global anti-Israel boycott.

The Israeli military says Corrie’s death was an accident. The driver of the bulldozer, an army reservist, testified that he had restricted visibility from inside his armored cabin and did not see her kneeling in front of the vehicle’s blade. Israeli officials have maintained that Corrie placed her own life at risk by entering a war zone.

The area of the incident, known as the Philadelphi Route, was one of the deadliest parts of Gaza for Israeli troops before Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005. Palestinian fighters smuggled weapons from Egypt through underground tunnels, planted explosive devices and battled soldiers from nearby homes.

Corrie and other activists present during the incident on March 16, 2003, believed the two armored D-9 bulldozers guarded by a small infantry contingent were about to demolish Palestinian houses nearby. In those years soldiers did demolish homes believed to conceal gunmen or tunnel entrances, but that day the military says bulldozers were only clearing vegetation. No homes were demolished on the day of Corrie’s death.

The lawyer for the Corries attempted to demonstrate that the activist had been clearly visible and that troops had proceeded either recklessly or with deadly intent.

At a hearing last year, an army major who commanded the Israeli unit on the scene testified that the activists ignored warnings delivered through a megaphone, tear gas and warning shots. The confrontation lasted several hours, he said.

At 5:05 p.m., according to an army log and a radio transmission that was played in court, one D-9 operator reported, “I hit someone.” It was Corrie, who had been buried under a pile of rubble. She was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.

The commander suggested that Corrie’s supporters did not understand the danger his troops were in and the extent to which the activists exacerbated that danger.

About 50 minutes before Corrie’s death, according to the army log, the soldiers reported that Palestinians had thrown a grenade at them. Asked by the Corries’ lawyer why the troops did not exit their armored vehicles to remove the activists, the commander responded that “if you put your head out for one second you got a sniper’s bullet in the head.”

The officer testified that he had been in an armored vehicle hit by a mine the previous year in the same area and lost one of his soldiers there in a separate incident. “It was a war zone,” he said.

The officer was identified in court only as S.R., according to army regulations. Other soldiers, including the D-9 operator, who was identified only as Y., testified behind a screen to protect their identities.

Corrie’s father, Craig Corrie, who served as an engineer with the US military in Vietnam, said after a 2011 hearing that the family would “like to find a verdict of guilty.”

“But it’s always been about trying to figure out the truth. Of course, there’s no finding that could bring Rachel back,” he said.

Tuesday’s verdict is slated to be delivered by Judge Oded Gershon at the Haifa District Court.