An Israeli trial investigating charges that Israel played a role in the 2003 death of Evergreen College activist Rachel Corrie has been postponed as the Israeli Supreme Court mulls an appeal by Corrie family lawyers. The postponement stems from a disagreement over whether witnesses could obscure their identities.
State attorneys had argued Israeli military personnel in the trial should testify from behind a screen, saying that it was necessary to protect the soldiers' safety and to prevent their images from being circulated. Last week, a Haifa District Court judge ruled a screen could be used. Corrie family attorneys opposed the motion, arguing that allowing the soldiers to testify behind a screen infringes upon the fundamental right to an open, fair and transparent trial. The trial was supposed to resume on Oct. 17 and 18, but has now been postponed until Oct. 21.
Craig and Cindy Corrie, the parents of Rachel, filed a lawsuit against the State of Israel charging that the death of their daughter was intentional. Corrie, 23, was crushed to death on March 16, 2003, by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer. She and other members of the International Solidarity Movement were nonviolently protesting the demolition of a Palestinian family's home in the Gaza Strip.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Israeli government was negligent for allowing soldiers and military commanders to act recklessly, using an armored military bulldozer, and that the Israeli military failed to take appropriate and necessary measures to protect Corrie's life, in violation of Israeli and international law.
The state of Israel argues that Corrie's death took place in the middle of an armed conflict in a closed military zone and should be considered an "act of war," or "war operation," and that its soldiers are therefore not liable for her death under Israeli law. The government also claims that she acted in reckless disregard of her life and was responsible for her own death.
The trial began in March 2010, when the Corrie family presented its witnesses, including several of Rachel's colleagues from ISM who witnessed her death. During the ongoing second phase of the trial, which began last month, the government will present witnesses, including the Israeli military police investigator who headed the investigation into Corrie's death and the bulldozer operators who struck and killed her.
"We pursue this case not just for our daughter," says Craig Corrie, "but for the many civilians killed in Gaza, still remembered, still loved, still awaiting justice."