Category: In the Media

Justice, Israeli style

22 October 2010 | MWC News

By Sherine Tadros

“Does anyone know the Hebrew word for ‘occupation’?” A question from the state assigned Hebrew translator to the packed out courtroom.

And that kicked off the trial into the killing of US activist Rachel Corrie, which took her family seven years to secure.

Today, several months later, we were back at Haifa District Court to hear from the Israeli soldier who was driving the bulldozer that killed Rachel whilst she was peacefully protesting against Palestinian home demolitions in Gaza in 2003.

And hear is all we could do – thanks to an unusual request filed by the state, and accepted by the judge, the driver and other soldiers testifying in this case have done so behind a dark screen to protect their identity (for “security” reasons).

I can’t tell you the driver’s name (there is a gag order) but I can say that he is a Russian immigrant to Israel that, ironically, shares the same birthday as Rachel.

It was a long and painful testimony, the driver answering the questions with variations of the phrase: “I don’t remember.”

He couldn’t even recall the time of day Rachel was killed and claimed he did not realize when he knocked Rachel down and drove over her with his four-tonne Caterpillar bulldozer.

Presumably, he also didn’t realize when he then backed up over her a second time crushing her body with his blade.

For Cindy Corrie, a retired music teacher from Olympia, Washington, that was the hardest part of the day: “Hearing the man who killed my daughter, without a shred of remorse in his voice, say he couldn’t remember when it happened.”

As Cindy says, even if he did it by mistake, how could he not recall the time of day he killed a 23-year-old girl?

Apart from the fact that it took five years from the time the Corries filed the lawsuit to the trial date – the court procedures and last minute changes by the Israeli state attorneys are simply embarrassing for a country that claims to be a democracy and practice the rule of law.

Sub par translators, erratic trial dates and a judge that stops proceedings because he has made other appointments (as happened today cutting the session short by two hours) have delayed the trial and frustrated everyone.

The Corries, journalists and rights groups were told they could enter the courtroom at 9am this morning.

At 8.15am the state filled the room with its “observers”, which meant apart from the family and their lawyers, only three or four journalists were allowed (in rotation) into the trial room to listen and report on what was happening.

I was inside for barely half an hour – just enough time to hear the driver make the point that he was simply following orders.

His superiors, he says, gave him instructions to continue with the demolitions despite the civilians protesting by the houses.

And therein lies the reason why this trial is so important.

It is not looking to blame or hold to account the soldier that dealt the final blow to Rachel.

The Corries are suing the state of Israel, for a nominal one dollar, for allowing, and at some points encouraging, its soldiers to act with impunity.

Whether they are preventing an aid ship from getting to Gaza, or in Rachel’s case stopping an activist defending a Palestinian accountant’s home, Israeli soldiers too often act with force, which shows they believe they are above the law.

And, as will be shown if the Corries lose this case, it’s because Israeli law will always protect them.

Sherine Tadros reports from Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

IDF prosecutors chided for using testimony of mentally disabled Palestinian witness

25 October 2010 | Amira Hass, Haaretz

A military judge has criticized the military prosecutor’s office for relying on the testimony of a mentally challenged young man who referred to events that never took place. In doing so, the witness put a resident of the Palestinian West Bank village of Na’alin behind bars for nine months for a crime he did not commit.

The judge, Maj. Amir Dahan, acquitted Ahmed Nafa, a 29-year-old high school teacher, of all charges against him. The indictment accused Nafa of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and rolling an Israeli car into a canal late last year. He was also indicted for being one of a group that later threw rocks, Molotov cocktails and gas canisters at an Israel Defense Forces jeep.

The indictment also said Nafa took part in an incident in which Molotov cocktails and gas canisters were thrown at an Israeli infantry unit “in or around July 2009.”

The prosecution, however, failed to give evidence that these high-profile events took place. The prosecution and police investigators did not provide the court with any independent evidence other than the testimony of a mentally disabled young man, Mustafa Amira. Amira testified to the Shin Bet security service and police after several days speaking with an informer.

Amira contradicted himself during questioning several times and later said he had admitted to acts he did not commit to bring his interrogation to an end.

28 arrested

Nafa was one of 28 Na’alin residents whom the IDF arrested in January, based on Amira’s testimony, in an effort to halt demonstrations in the area against the construction of the separation barrier.

Most of the detainees struck a plea agreement in the belief that their detention before trial would exceed any jail time they might receive.

Nafa, however, demanded an evidentiary hearing. In his opinion acquitting Nafa, Judge Dahan said he was surprised that despite the precision of the accusation, “the investigators did not make any effort to identify the victims or soldiers” to gather additional information.

In the cases of Nafa and three defendants accused of membership in a local village committee, the prosecution called another witness, Hamed Sarur, but Dahan discounted his testimony after finding that Sarur was promised release from detention if he “came to a mutual agreement with” his interrogators.

Dahan said such improper methods cast a shadow over the investigation. In acquitting Nafa, Dahan wrote: “It is not possible that this court would fail to employ the same minimum standards of proof of harm to persons or property that is customary in Israel even in civil cases.”

Two military judges had decided to leave Nafa in custody until the end of proceedings. Nafa’s lawyer, Nery Ramati, said Dahan’s criticism of the prosecution and police that resulted in Nafa’s acquittal was also relevant to the cases of the other defendants implicated by Amira.

Ynet: Bulldozer driver testifies in Rachel Corrie case

21 October 2010 | YNet News

The bulldozer driver who ran over Rachel Corrie in Gaza in 2003 said Thursday he did not realize he had trampled the American left-wing activist to death until he heard what had happened over the radio network.

Photo displayed during court hearing (Photo: Avisag Shear Yeshuv)

The driver, whose name has not been released, testified during a Haifa District Court hearing on a civil wrongful-death lawsuit filed in March by the activist’s parents, Cindy and Craig, against the State of Israel and Defense Ministry. The driver testified from behind a wooden partition to keep his identity secret.

The 23-year-old Corrie was run over and killed by an Israeli bulldozer while attempting to prevent Palestinian homes from being demolished along with other members of the International Solidarity Movement. The driver said he did not see her, and her death was ruled an accident by the IDF.

The Corries are demanding $324,000 from the State, which claims the activists endangered IDF soldiers and were in a closed military zone at the time of the incident.

During Thursday’s hearing, Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein, who is representing the parents, spoke of inconsistencies between the driver’s testimony during the IDF investigation and the affidavit he submitted to the court. According to the attorney, the driver told military investigators he had reported the incident over the radio system, while he told the court he heard of Corrie’s death over the network.

The lawyer also pointed to discrepancies in the driver’s testimony regarding how far he continued driving after crushing Corrie. The driver told the court he drove another 20 meters (66 feet) before stopping, but in his affidavit he said he stopped after three meters (10 feet). In addition, the driver claimed Corrie’s body was found between the bulldozer and a mound of dirt, while another soldier said the body was behind the mound. During the hearing, Attorney Hussein displayed a photo in which no mound of dirt can be seen at all.

Meanwhile, Cindy Corrie slammed the state, saying Israel is hiding behind individual soldiers who are hiding behind partitions

Guardian: Rachel Corrie case: Israeli soldier to testify anonymously

20 October 2010 | The Guardian

Rachel Corrie / Courtesy Rachel Corrie Foundation

The Israeli soldier at the controls of a bulldozer that crushed to death 23-year-old Rachel Corrie in Gaza in March 2003 is due to give evidence tomorrow in the civil lawsuit brought by the American activist’s family.

However the judge hearing the case in Haifa has ruled that, for security reasons, the soldier can testify anonymously from behind a screen, denying Cindy and Craig Corrie the opportunity to face the man who directly caused their daughter’s death.

Israel’s supreme court refused to hear an appeal by the family challenging the judge’s ruling. However, the unit commander in charge that day will testify in full view of the court as his identity is already known.

“I’ll be grateful at least to be able to hear [the bulldozer driver’s] words but I won’t get the complete picture and I’ll be disappointed by that,” Cindy Corrie said in an interview in Jerusalem last week.

“They’ve said it’s the security of the witnesses they are trying to protect. I can understand it would be uncomfortable for the soldiers to have to see us, but I can’t understand how our family is a threat to their security.”

Corrie, from Olympia, Washington state, was killed while attempting to protect the home of a Palestinian family in the Rafah area of Gaza from being demolished by Israeli troops seven and a half years ago. A posthumous book and play based on the graphic and moving emails she wrote to friends and family made her an iconic figure.

An internal Israeli military investigation, which was never published nor released to the US government or the Corries, concluded that the bulldozer driver had not seen Rachel and that no charges would be brought. The case was closed.

The family brought a civil case – “absolutely our last resort” – against the state of Israel, which opened in March this year and is expected to conclude early next year. Among the early witnesses was a fellow activist, Briton Richard Purssell, who described how Corrie disappeared from view under the advancing bulldozer.

The driver’s evidence will be a key moment in the case but the Corrie family has been careful not to invest too much in his evidence. “While the driver is very important, to me he is not the only person who has responsibility,” said Cindy Corrie. “Responsibility is shared with a lot of people. My focus isn’t entirely on the driver.”

Sarah Corrie Simpson, Rachel’s older sister, said: “Ultimately the individual had the ability to stop that act. However if you only hold responsible the individual, you’re losing the broader context of what’s going on. You have to look at the chain of command and what sort of orders were being given at that time.”

The family, while wanting an acceptable end to their battle for justice, was wary of the concept of closure. “It’s hard to conceive of that,” said Craig Corrie. “People talk about it, but it’s real hard to define what closure would be when you’ve lost a child, lost a little sister.”

Corrie Simpson said closure was difficult to define: “I’m not sure how you ever get to a place where you even feel close to that when you know there are people out there on the other end of what happened to Rachel, and you’ve never even been able to see their faces. Mum talks about being able to see the humanity of the person that was on the other end – and now the majority of soldiers will get to testify behind a screen, and that takes that away from us.”

At the very least, the family hoped their legal battle would shine a light on the Israeli Defence Force’s (IDF) investigative process.

Cindy Corrie said if the IDF were, as it claimed, the most moral army in the world, “they should be willing to look at a system that is much more transparent than what exists right now”.

Last month, a colonel responsible for writing operating manuals for military bulldozers, testified that there were no civilians in a war zone.

Cindy Corrie said: “It’s a window, hearing that coming from these people, a real window into the mindset – and it’s very, very concerning. And I think every Israeli should be really concerned.”

Bulldozer driver and ground commander to testify in Corrie trial

17 October 2010 | Rachel Corrie Foundation

The driver of the bulldozer that crushed to death Rachel Corrie in Rafah, Gaza, in March 2003, and the military commander in charge of the unit on the ground that day, are scheduled to testify on Thursday, October 21 in the civil lawsuit filed by Rachel’s family against the state of Israel for her unlawful killing.

Earlier this month, the court granted the State of Israel’s request that soldiers involved in the incident be permitted to testify behind a screen to protect their identity. Lawyers for the Corrie family appealed the decision to the Israeli Supreme Court, requesting that at a minimum the family be allowed to view the soldiers, but the court refused to hear the challenge.

Consequently, the bulldozer driver will testify behind a screen. However, because the unit commander on the ground that day, Captain R.S., gave an interview that was broadcast on Israeli television in 2003, and was thus already known to the public, the presiding judge ruled that he will testify in plain view. Although disclosed during the TV broadcast, his name still remains redacted in official court records.

A third witness scheduled, known only as S.L., was driving the second bulldozer in the unit near Palestinian homes in Rafah. He will also testify from behind a screen.

The court was to hold hearings in the case on October 17-18, but postponed due to a death in Judge Gershon’s family. Therefore, additional court dates are anticipated to be added to the court calendar.

The October 21 hearing will take place between the hours of 9:00-16:00 before Judge Oded Gershon at the Haifa, District Court, 12 Palyam St., Haifa, Israel.

Please visit rachelcorriefoundation.org/trial for trial updates, changes to the court schedule and related information.