Fight for Justice for Rachel Corrie Goes to Israeli Supreme Court
May 26, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
On March 16, 2003, 23-year-old Rachel Corrie put her life on the line. She protested the illegal bulldozing of Palestinian homes by the Israeli army in Gaza. As she stood in the path of a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier who was under direct orders to keep moving, her life was violently snatched away, crushed under the American-made Caterpillar.
Rachel Corrie. Photo: Courtesy Rachel Corrie Foundation
Rachel Corrie was from Olympia, Washington, and she had traveled to Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement. The aim was to shine a light on Israel’s destruction of Palestinian society. A continuing project of ethnic cleansing has been underway with a vengeance since 1948 when the state of Israel was established. “A land without people for a people without land” was and is the big lie used to justify Israeli occupation of almost all the land in Palestine and horrific crimes against the Palestinian people. (For more on the nature of the state of Israel, see the special Revolution issue Bastion of Enlightenment or Enforcer for Imperialism: The Case of Israel)
After Rachel’s murder by the Israeli army, her parents, Cindy and Craig, along with many people outraged by this crime, launched a campaign not only for justice for Rachel, but to continue Rachel’s work in resisting oppression. (See Revolution Interview with Cindy and Craig Corrie, October 10, 2010.) As part of this, a lawsuit was filed against the state of Israel for the death of Rachel.
After Rachel’s murder by the Israeli army, her parents, Cindy and Craig (above), along with many people outraged by this crime, launched a campaign not only for justice for Rachel, but to continue Rachel’s work in resisting oppression. Photo: Courtesy Rachel Corrie Foundation
Nine years after Rachel was killed, in 2012, a ruling came down saying the Israeli army was not responsible, despite numerous eyewitness accounts that Rachel was clearly visible to the military bulldozer driver and the revelation in court that the Israeli army had a standing “shoot to kill” order against any adult in this zone. The system that uses its state power to treat Palestinians as less than human, steal their land, demolish their homes, confine them to chopped-up parcels of territory in their own homeland, jail thousands for resisting and force millions into exile as refugees, ruled that Rachel Corrie was responsible for her own death.
On May 21, the appeal of that outrageously unjust ruling was heard in the Supreme Court of Israel, with Cindy and Craig Corrie in the courtroom. The court is expected to take months before issuing a ruling. At a recent press conference, Craig Corrie stated, “The Supreme Court now has a choice, to either show the world that the Israeli legal system honors the most basic principles of human rights and can hold its military accountable, or to add to mounting evidence that justice can not be found in Israel.”
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