31 September 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
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Firas Nahar Jama, 15, was arrested after Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Kufr Qaddoum during the weekly demonstration.
Mahmood Nasir Batahan (10) was taken to the hospital after being hit by a tear-gas canister. Two others were treated on the scene after inhaling large amounts of tear-gas.
The purpose of the weekly demonstration in Kufr Qaddoum is to protest the closure of the main road that connects the village with the city of Nablus. The road, which passes alongside the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim was closed for Palestinian access and is only open to illegal Israeli settlers. As a result, the journey to the nearest city has increased from 15 minutes to 40 minutes.
Kufr Qaddoum has also lost 4,000 durums of land to the 5 illegal Israeli settlements that surrounds the village. Farmers seeking to reach their lands face threats, attacks, and arrests. Some of the Palestinian-owned agricultural land has been declared as ‘closed military zones’, and Israeli settlers regularly sets fire to them.
31 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West bank
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Three Palestinians were injured and 5 arrested today during Nabi Saleh’s weekly demonstration. Israeli military set up road blocks surrounding the village early this morning in order to prevent people and journalists from participating.
At 4.30 p.m., Malek Tamini was shot with a live bullet which went through his hand and the side of his body. He has undergone surgery for his injuries. One Palestinian suffered an open wound after being shot with a tear gas canister during protests. Soldiers were firing tears gas canisters directly in to the crowd with the intent of causing serious injury and then prevented the ambulance from entering the village for one hour . One local resident received stitches in Ramallah hospital after suffering a head wound from a rubber-coated steel bullet.
Five Palestinians protestors including Mohammad Khatib and Bilal Tamimi of the popular committees, a student journalist, and two young women activists were arrested in the morning while walking towards the village spring which was annexed by the nearby illegal Israeli settlement, Halamish. All have has since been released.
Nabi Saleh is a small village of approximately 550 people, twenty kilometres north west of Ramallah in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Israeli colony of Halamish (also known as Neveh Tzuf) was established on lands belonging to the villages of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham in 1976. In response to the illegal colony being established on their land, the residents of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham began holding demonstrations in opposition to the theft of their land and the establishment of the colony (whose establishment violates international law). The residents of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham lodged a court case against the colony in Israel’s high court, but were unable to stop the construction the illegal settlement.
Since its establishment in 1977, Halamish colony has continued to expand and steal more Palestinian land. In 2008, the residents of An Nabi Saleh challenged the building of a fence by the colony on private Palestinian land, which prevented Palestinians from accessing their land. The Israeli courts ruled that the fence was to be dismantled Despite the Israeli court ruling, the colony continued to illegally annex more Palestinian land. In the summer of 2008, Israeli settlers from Halamish seized control of a number springs, all of which were located on private Palestinian land belonging to residents of An Nabi Saleh.
In December 2009, the village began weekly non-violent demonstrations in opposition to the illegal Israeli colony of Halamish annexing of the fresh water springs and stealing of more of the village’s land. Since An Nabi Saleh began its demonstrations, the Israeli military has brutally sought to repress the non-violent protests, arresting more than 13% of the village, including children. In total, as of 31 March 2011, 64 village residents have been arrested. All but 3 were tried for participating in the non-violent demonstrations. Of those imprisoned, 29 have been minors under the age of 18 years and 4 have been women.
The Haifa District court ruled earlier today that the Israeli military is not responsible for killing American activist Rachel Corrie, and that Corrie was to blame for her own death.
“Even when she saw the mount of earth moving towards her, she did not move away. The accident was caused by the deceased,” said Israeli Judge Oded Gershon, as he read out a summary of the 62-page ruling in front of a packed courthouse and with Rachel’s mother Cindy, father Craig and sister Sarah sitting in the front row.
Rachel’s death, Gershon said, “was not due to negligence of the state or any of its actors. The state did not violate the right of the deceased [Rachel Corrie] to life.”
Twenty-three-year-old American activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in March 2003. At the time of her death, she was trying to prevent Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the Gaza border town of Rafah.
“There is no basis for the claim that the bulldozer hit her intentionally. It was a very unfortunate accident. I am confident the operator wouldn’t have continued if he saw her. This was an accident,” Gershon said, adding “the state is not responsible for damages in actions [that occur] in combat operations.”
Seven years in court
The Corrie family intends to appeal the Haifa District Court’s decision at the Israeli high court within 45 days.
The case was originally filed against the state of Israel in 2005 in Haifa District Court. The family accused the state of being responsible for Rachel’s death and of not conducting a thorough investigation into what happened.
Oral testimonies began in March 2010 and 23 witnesses have testified over 15 court hearings since that time. Israeli soldiers testified in court behind a curtain during the trial and a high-ranking Israeli army officer testified that there are no civilians in war.
“We are, of course, deeply saddened and deeply troubled by what we heard today,” said Rachel’s mother, Cindy Corrie, in a press conference following the verdict. “I believe that this was a bad day, not only for our family but a bad day for human rights, for humanity, for the rule of law and also for the country of Israel.”
Contrary to the court’s ruling, Cindy Corrie said that her family and their legal team believe that the Israeli soldiers driving the bulldozer saw Rachel the day she was killed. The family also said that Israeli military’s investigation into Rachel’s killing was wholly inadequate.
“I can say without a doubt that I believe my sister was seen as that bulldozer approached her,” said Rachel’s sister, Sarah, during the press conference. “I hope someday [the bulldozer driver] will have the courage to sit down in front of me and tell me what he saw and what he feels.”
The Israeli courts, Cindy said, holding back tears, are part of “a well heeled system to protect the Israeli military, the soldiers who conduct actions in that military” and “provide them with impunity at the cost of all the civilians who are impacted by what they do.”
“We believe that Rachel was seen. Everything that we knew coming into this process, reinforced by everything we saw and heard in court, confirmed our belief that at least one soldier knew she was there. [It was the soldiers’] ability and obligation to see who was in front of their machine. We believe someone in that bulldozer did,” she said.
Last week, the American Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, reportedly told the Corrie family that the Israeli military investigation into Rachel’s killing had not been “thorough, credible and transparent.” Shortly after Rachel’s death, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised US President George W. Bush that such an investigation would be conducted.
“We knew from the start that a civil lawsuit would be an uphill battle but as a family we had to push for answers for accountability and for justice. The diplomatic process between the United States and Israel failed us, and today the Israeli court system demonstrated its failure to us,” Cindy Corrie said.
The court’s ruling
As he read out the summary of his ruling, Israeli judge Gershon found that the Israeli military’s investigation into Rachel Corrie’s death was satisfactory.
He also ruled that the charges of assault and negligence levied against the Israeli military were unfounded, and that forcing Israel to pay damages to the Corrie family was unnecessary since Rachel’s death was unintentional.
Gershon added the area where Rachel Corrie was killed was a closed military zone and “daily combat region” and that the bulldozer’s work — which he said was clearing and flattening the land in the area — was absolutely necessary.
“The task of the army was to clear the area and to clear terrorist hiding places. There was an urgent need to perform this task. The task was not to destroy houses,” Gershon said, as he read a summary of the verdict in court.
In a press conference following the verdict, the Corrie family’s lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, said that the aim of the army’s operations the day Rachel Corrie was killed was to demolish the home of the Nasrallah family, with whom Rachel had been staying.
“It was not right because Rachel was living with this family of Dr. Nasrallah all the period before the killing. Here in this picture, you see how far the bulldozer [was] from the house of Dr. Nasrallah. Any human being who sees this picture can imagine that the aim of this activity in that day, was the destruction of the house of Dr. Nasrallah,” said the Corrie family’s lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein.
Impunity for Israeli crimes continues
“While not surprising, this verdict is yet another example where impunity has prevailed over accountability and fairness. Rachel Corrie was killed while non-violently protesting home demolitions and injuries, injustice in Gaza and today this court has given its stamp on the approval to flout an illegal practices that fail to protect civilian life,” Abu Hussein said, as he read a prepared statement shortly after the verdict was announced.
“In this regard, the verdict blames the victim based on distorted facts and it could have been written directly by the state’s prosecution. We know from the beginning that we had an uphill battle to get truthful answers and justice, but we are convinced that this verdict distorts the strong evidence presented in court and contradicts fundamental principles of international law with regards to protection of human rights defenders,” Abu Hussein said.
The Rachel Corrie case has highlighted the lack of accountability that Israeli soldiers are held to when they commit crimes against Palestinians.
Earlier this month, an Israeli military court didn’t hold anyone accountable for the killing of two Palestinian women in Gaza during Israel’s attacks on the Palestinian territory in 2008-09. The women were killed when an Israeli soldier opened fire on them as they stood waving white flags.
“The Israeli military received strong evidence in dozens of cases that its soldiers killed Palestinians unlawfully during Israel’s ‘Operation Cast Lead,’ yet the military has indicted only four soldiers, and jailed none on such charges,” said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
“The scant accountability for the apparent crimes by Israeli soldiers casts grave doubt on Israel’s willingness to prosecute crimes by its forces” (“Israel: 2009 Killings of Mother and Daughter Unresolved,” Human Rights Watch, 22 August 2012)
Indeed, Rachel’s father, Craig Corrie, said that his daughter’s killing highlighted this impunity, and showed just how the Israeli army “thought [it] could kill people on the border with impunity.”
He explained how, within a seven-week period in 2003, Rachel, British activist Tom Hurndall and British journalist James Miller were killed in the same area of Gaza.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Israeli army demolished over 2,500 Palestinian homes in Gaza from 2000 to 2004; two-thirds of that number were in Rafah alone. “That was why Rachel was there. That context was almost not permitted within the courtroom at all,” Craig said.
“There was a family behind that wall and she knew that family. She slept on the floor in the parents’ bedroom because they couldn’t sleep in the children’s bedroom because they were being fired at by Israeli soldiers. She knew that family and she knew they stood behind that wall,” he added.
“Knowing that, how could she move?”
Jillian Kestler-D’Amours is a reporter and documentary filmmaker based in Jerusalem. More of her work can be found at jkdamours.com.
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is deeply concerned by the verdict of Judge Oded Gershon that absolved Israel’s military and state of the 2003 murder of American ISM activist Rachel Corrie. Rachel was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the American administration stating that the Israeli military investigation had not been “thorough, credible and transparent” and the Israeli government withholding key video and audio evidence, Judge Gershon found no fault in the investigation or in the conclusion that the military and state were not responsible for Rachel’s death. Judge Gershon ruled that Rachel was to blame for her own murder and classifies her non-violent attempt to prevent war crimes as proof that Rachel was not a “thinking person”.
By disregarding international law and granting Israeli war criminals impunity Judge Gershon’s verdict exemplifies the fact that Israel’s legal system cannot be trusted to administer justice according to international standards.The ISM calls on the international community to hold Israel accountable by supporting the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and continuing to join the Palestinian struggle in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Describing the situation in Gaza two days before she was killed, Rachel said, “I’m witnessing the systematic destruction of a people’s ability to survive. It’s horrifying.” Rachel’s analysis holds true today, confirmed by the United Nations a day before this ruling, which reported that Gaza would not be “liveable” by 2020 barring urgent action.
The verdict is a green light for Israeli soldiers to use lethal force against human rights defenders and puts Palestinian and International human rights defenders in mortal danger.
This will not deter us. As long as our Palestinian sisters and brothers want our presence, the ISM will continue to find ways to break Israel’s siege, and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. As Rachel’s mother Cindy said, “There were children behind the walls of the home Rachel was trying to protect…We should have all been there.”
Judge Gershon’s verdict is a travesty of justice but it is not exceptional. As a rule the Israeli legal system provides Israeli soldiers impunity to commit murder. The only Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter since the outbreak of the second Intifada in 2000 was Taysir Hayb, a Bedouin citizen of Israel for shooting British ISM volunteer Tom Hurndall in the back of the head with a sniper rifle as Tom was carrying a child to safety. At least 6,444 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces in this period, with no justice for them or their families.
Palestinians in Gaza support the Corrie family on the eve of the verdict in their lawsuit against Israel over its 2003 killing of their daughter Rachel, as well as divestment from Caterpillar and the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
