The Haifa District Court rejected a civil suit filed over the death of International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie, who was run over by an IDF bulldozer in Gaza on March 16, 2003. The family of the late 23-year-old radical left-wing activist filed a civil suit in the Haifa court after the IDF investigation into the accidental death cleared all involved.

The court concurred with the IDF probe and in his ruling Justice Oded Gershon referred to Corrie’s death as a “regrettable accident” but absolved the government of responsibility since the incident occurred during a “wartime situation”.

Corrie and her cohorts tried blocking IDF bulldozers involved in razing buildings in Gaza as part of a security operation and she and others ignored the ‘closed military zone’ status and repeated requests and warnings to leave the area.

In addition to the ‘closure’ of the area imposed by the IDF, there was an American travel advisory warning citizens not to enter the area.

Nevertheless, Corrie defied instructions and her lifeless body was found after the D-9 bulldozer was operating. It was also explained that by the nature of the gigantic bulldozer, Corrie was not visible to the operator, blocked by a mound of dirt in the area. The court stated that Corrie placed herself in danger and therefore, the state is not in any way responsible since everything possible was done to keep civilians away.

Judge Gershon added the International Solidarity Movement “abuses the human rights discourse to blur its actions which are de facto violence. The group’s members specialized in disrupting IDF activity and served as human shields for terrorists.”

The following was released by the State Prosecutor’s Office following the court’s decision:

Today, Tuesday the 28th of August 2012, the Haifa District Court reached a verdict in the suit submitted by the parents of Rachel Corrie against the Defense Ministry. In the verdict the honorable Judge, Oded Gershon, accepted all arguments presented by the State Prosecutor’s Office (Tel Aviv District).

The death of Rachel Corrie is without a doubt a tragic accident. As the verdict states – the driver of the bulldozer and his commander had a very limited field of vision, such that they had no possibility of seeing Ms. Corrie and thus are exonerated of any blame for negligence.

This verdict is based on three different investigations that were presented to the court by The State Prosecutor’s Office making it clear that the driver could not spot Ms. Corrie and thus could not have avoided this tragic accident. More so, an expert who testified on behalf of the Corrie family also noted that the driver could not and did not see Ms. Corrie due to the nature of the vehicle he was operating.

Furthermore, the action described in the suit was “a military action in the course of war” according to all criteria and that the state (therefore the Defense Ministry) is exempt from responsibility for it. The security forces at the Philadelphi Corridor during 2003 were compelled to carry out ‘leveling’ work against explosive devices that posed a tangible danger to life and limb and were not in any form posing a threat to Palestinian homes. The work was done while exercising maximum caution and prudence and without the ability to foresee harming anyone. END OF STATEMENT

An appeal to an international court is likely to follow according to some analysts.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)