Rachel Corrie ruling 'a bad day for humanity' says her mother

28 August 2012, The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk (UK)

The mother of US activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Israel in 2003, has spoken out following the Israeli court's decision to reject the case brought against the military.

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An Israeli court rejected all claims of negligence in a civil lawsuit brought by the family of US activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer during a protest in 2003.

“I reached the conclusion that there was no negligence on the part of the bulldozer driver,” said Judge Oded Gershon, reading out his verdict at Haifa District Court in northern Israel.

The judge said he found no case for negligence on the part of the Israeli army, and that the military police investigation – which found she had been killed by falling earth as a result of her own irresponsible behaviour – had been properly conducted.

He said her death was the result of an accident and rejected claims that key videotape evidence had been destroyed.

The 23-year-old was killed in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in March 2003 as she was with a group of pro-Palestinian activists acting as human shields to prevent a house demolition.

Exactly seven years after her death, her family launched a civil suit against the state of Israel and the defence ministry for the symbolic sum of $1, plus costs.

The family, who travelled from the United States to attend the hearing, followed the proceedings with the help of an interpreter.

They were accompanied by around 50 friends and well-wishers.

An Israeli military investigation into the incident was closed several months after her death without any disciplinary action, saying the bulldozer crew could not see Corrie because she was behind a mound of rubble.