“Israeli” Court: Corrie Responsible for Her Death!
Local Editor
An "Israeli" court rejected Tuesday accusations that the Zionist entity was at fault over the death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an "Israeli" army bulldozer during a 2003 anti-apartheid demonstration in Gaza.
Corrie's family had accused "Israel" of intentionally and unlawfully killing their 23-year-old daughter, launching a civil case in Haifa after a military investigation had cleared the army of wrong-doing.
"I am hurt," Corrie's mother, Cindy, told reporters after the verdict was read.
In a ruling read out to the court, judge Oded Gershon called Corrie's death a "regrettable accident", but said the "Israel" was not responsible because the incident had occurred during what he termed a war-time situation.
"Israel" rarely punishes its military or citizens for abuses against Palestinians, despite six decades of gross human rights violations against the native population.
It was always going to be difficult to achieve justice through "Israeli" courts, where discrimination against Palestinians and their supporters are institutionalized.
According to the so-called "Israeli" human rights group Yesh Din, 91 percent of investigations into crimes committed against Palestinians and their property in the occupied territories "are closed without indictments being served."
Indictments have been served in only 3 percent of such cases, according to Yesh Din.
Omar Barghouti, a leading activist with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against "Israel" campaign, said the ruling shows that "Israel's" justice system is structurally flawed.
"This latest "Israeli" mockery of justice underlines what the Goldstone Report had proven after the "Israeli" massacre in Gaza in 2008-09."
" Referring to structural flaws in the so-called "Israeli" justice system, the report concluded that Israel cannot be trusted to administer justice according to international standards," he told al-Akhbar Lebanese daily.
At the time of her death, during a Palestinian uprising, Corrie was protesting against "Israel's' demolition of Palestinian homes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
"I reject the suit," the judge said. "There is no justification to demand the state pay any damages."
The judge then laid blame on the unarmed peace activist for not distancing herself from the area where army bulldozers were destroying civilian homes. "She (Corrie) did not distance herself from the area, as any thinking person would have done."
Barghouti called on future prosecutions against "Israeli" crimes against humanity to be taken to international courts. "Given that "Israel's" courts, like their South African counterpart during apartheid, have systematically been a reliable pillar of "Israeli" occupation, colonialism and apartheid, "Israel's" war crimes and crimes against humanity ought to be prosecuted in international courts where justice has a chance to see the day of light," he said.
Corrie's death made her a symbol of the uprising, and while her family battled through the courts to seek justice for her death, her story was dramatized on stage in a dozen countries and told in the book "Let Me Stand Alone."
Corrie came from Olympic, Washington and was a volunteer with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement.
Senior US officials criticized the original military investigation into the case, saying it had been neither thorough nor credible. But the judge said the inquiry had been appropriate and pinned no blame on the army.
"This should also convince anyone who still needed to be convinced that without effective BDS against Israel it will never comply with international law. This is the lesson of South Africa," Barghouti said.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Edited by moqawama.org
An "Israeli" court rejected Tuesday accusations that the Zionist entity was at fault over the death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an "Israeli" army bulldozer during a 2003 anti-apartheid demonstration in Gaza.
Corrie's family had accused "Israel" of intentionally and unlawfully killing their 23-year-old daughter, launching a civil case in Haifa after a military investigation had cleared the army of wrong-doing.
"I am hurt," Corrie's mother, Cindy, told reporters after the verdict was read.
In a ruling read out to the court, judge Oded Gershon called Corrie's death a "regrettable accident", but said the "Israel" was not responsible because the incident had occurred during what he termed a war-time situation.
"Israel" rarely punishes its military or citizens for abuses against Palestinians, despite six decades of gross human rights violations against the native population.
It was always going to be difficult to achieve justice through "Israeli" courts, where discrimination against Palestinians and their supporters are institutionalized.
According to the so-called "Israeli" human rights group Yesh Din, 91 percent of investigations into crimes committed against Palestinians and their property in the occupied territories "are closed without indictments being served."
Indictments have been served in only 3 percent of such cases, according to Yesh Din.
Omar Barghouti, a leading activist with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against "Israel" campaign, said the ruling shows that "Israel's" justice system is structurally flawed.
"This latest "Israeli" mockery of justice underlines what the Goldstone Report had proven after the "Israeli" massacre in Gaza in 2008-09."
" Referring to structural flaws in the so-called "Israeli" justice system, the report concluded that Israel cannot be trusted to administer justice according to international standards," he told al-Akhbar Lebanese daily.
At the time of her death, during a Palestinian uprising, Corrie was protesting against "Israel's' demolition of Palestinian homes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
"I reject the suit," the judge said. "There is no justification to demand the state pay any damages."The judge then laid blame on the unarmed peace activist for not distancing herself from the area where army bulldozers were destroying civilian homes. "She (Corrie) did not distance herself from the area, as any thinking person would have done."
Barghouti called on future prosecutions against "Israeli" crimes against humanity to be taken to international courts. "Given that "Israel's" courts, like their South African counterpart during apartheid, have systematically been a reliable pillar of "Israeli" occupation, colonialism and apartheid, "Israel's" war crimes and crimes against humanity ought to be prosecuted in international courts where justice has a chance to see the day of light," he said.
Corrie's death made her a symbol of the uprising, and while her family battled through the courts to seek justice for her death, her story was dramatized on stage in a dozen countries and told in the book "Let Me Stand Alone."
Corrie came from Olympic, Washington and was a volunteer with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement.
Senior US officials criticized the original military investigation into the case, saying it had been neither thorough nor credible. But the judge said the inquiry had been appropriate and pinned no blame on the army.
"This should also convince anyone who still needed to be convinced that without effective BDS against Israel it will never comply with international law. This is the lesson of South Africa," Barghouti said.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Edited by moqawama.org
