AN ISRAELI soldier who commanded a military bulldozer testified in court yesterday that he couldn’t be certain it was his vehicle that ran over Rachel Corrie in Gaza in 2003, killing the American peace activist.
The commander of the two-man bulldozer team told Haifa district court that he saw Ms Corrie and other activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), who were wearing distinctive fluorescent vests, as they tried to prevent two Israeli bulldozers demolish Palestinian homes. However the soldier, identified as sergeant A.V., told the court he didn’t notice Ms Corrie moments before she was crushed by a bulldozer, and he wasn’t 100 per cent sure which vehicle was responsible.
After her death, Rachel Corrie became a symbol for international activists struggling against the Israeli occupation. The Irish ship that tried to break Israel’s maritime blockade on Gaza in June was named the MV Rachel Corrie.
The Corrie family are demanding a symbolic $1 in punitive damages from the state of Israel for wrongful killing and negligence. Rachel’s parents, Craig and Cindy, and her sister, Sarah, were in court yesterday, to hear the soldier’s testimony, which was given behind a screen in order to protect his identity.
His story appeared to contradict the testimony given last month by the bulldozer driver who admitted it was his vehicle that crushed the peace activist.
The second witness who testified yesterday, the driver of the second bulldozer, denied statements he allegedly made in an affidavit given to military police in 2003.
The Israeli military maintained troops were not to blame for Rachel Corrie’s death and accused the ISM volunteers of “illegal, irresponsible, and dangerous” behaviour by protesting in Rafah close to the Egyptian border on March 16th, 2003, when the incident occurred.
Sarah Corrie said yesterday: “What we are hearing from witnesses seems to indicate problems, not only concerning statements on what happened on the day, but also a lack of a credible investigation over the last seven and a half years. Our own US government has said there has never been a thorough and credible investigation into the killing of my sister.” The trial is set to resume on December 22nd.