- 31 mrt 2011
Rachel Corrie trial resumes
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The civil lawsuit brought by parents of slain American peace activist Rachel Corrie against the state of Israel will resume Sunday, the foundation named after her said Wednesday.
The Haifa district court will open hearings on April 3 and 6, in which Israeli soldiers and colleagues of Corrie who were present at her death will testify, according to the statement.
Corrie was killed in on March 16, 2003, when the 23-year-old International Solidarity Movement activist was crushed by a bulldozer as she protested a Palestinian home from demolition in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The commander of the unit driving the bulldozer is expected to testify in public as his identity is already well-known, in contrast to most military witnesses who have appeared behind a screen, the foundation said. The Corrie family's appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court for all witnesses to appear openly in court was denied.
The civil trial began in March 2010. Hearings on September 5 and November 4 saw the driver and commander of the bulldozer that struck Corrie testify, before a five month recess.
"Corrie's case forms a new test for the Israeli judicial system. This case will give this system another chance to show that it is able to work as an independent system that seeks to achieve justice and apply the law, rather than continue to entrench its politicized attitude by seeking to shield [Israeli forces]" a joint release by rights groups Al-Mezan, Al Dameer, and Gaza Community Mental Health Program said.
Corrie's mother said: As we now witness young people in the Middle East protesting non-violently and struggling for their freedoms and human rights, this trial seems ever more relevant, according to the foundations statement.
While our family continues to seek accountability from the Israeli Government for their response to Rachel's nonviolent action, we insist that all governments and militaries respect the right of people to peaceably assemble and protest, that they respond nonviolently to such protests, and that they be accountable for their actions, she added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374130
19 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 4 apr 2011
Testimonies conflict during Corrie civil suit
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Testimonies conflicted as defendants took the stand during Sunday's hearing of a civil suit that followed the death of US activist Rachel Corrie.
She was crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 near the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip as the Israeli army carried out demolition works.
Testifying for the first time without a screen, but still concealing his identity, SL, who led the army's bulldozer unit in question, claimed that civilian presence is prohibited during operations, which must be stopped immediately if someone appears at the site.
The statement conflicts with the witness's initial one in a prior hearing.
We've heard two statements, said Hussein Abu Hussein, one of the attorney's pleading for the Corrie family. The major who trains the bulldozer driver has admitted that, according to procedures, the army must prevent any person from coming within twenty meters of the bulldozers' operations, and that operations must be stopped if anyone is injured. He practically retracted his first testimony, which raises many questions.
The second witness, an army major at the scene, said if it came to him he would have stopped the operation immediately, but his captain stopped him from doing so. He also said they did everything in their ability to prevent incidence of damage.
According to Hussein, the army was not concerned about the lives of civilians who were present and continued the operation despite dangerous circumstances.
http://fwd4.me/yzM
19 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 11 apr 2011
Rachel Corrie trial: stopping bulldozer work not an option despite risk to protesters
Two Israeli military officers who commanded troops near Rafah, Gaza on the day Rachel Corrie was killed, took the stand behind a screen in a Haifa court Wednesday, April 6, as government witnesses in the ongoing civil lawsuit Corrie vs. the State of Israel. Their testimony further underscored the failure of the Israeli military to recognize the rights, and protect the lives and property of civilians in the Rafah, Gaza region in 2003; including that of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) protesters.
Deputy Battalion Commander Sh.R, a Major responsible for overseeing 450-500 soldiers in Gaza, said he was located about 1 ½ kilometers from the scene at the army’s Liaison Unit with Foreign Forces (Yaklaz), and that although the bulldozer work was under the direct ground supervision of Captain S.R., he was in a position to influence the work and was ultimately responsible for the decisions made that day. This was significant because in the preceding hearing, Captain S.R., a Bedouin officer who testified earlier in the week, told the court he requested to halt his work because of the presence of the protesters, and potential danger to them, but received orders to continue.
Sh.R. defined the “Philidelphi Route” not just as the narrow, Israeli controlled, military road running parallel to the Gaza/Egypt border, but rather as the entire width of land between the Egypt border and the first row of Palestinian houses inside Gazan territory. He also insisted that Palestinians in these houses were those digging tunnels, snipers attacking the military, or smuggling weapons, and that clearing and destroying homes was done only after it was “beyond a reasonable doubt” that homes were empty. His description, although emblematic of the Israeli military’s position regarding the area in 2003, completely ignores the fact, and credible documentation by U.N. humanitarian agencies and human rights groups, that the land was once filled with densely populated civilian homes, the first row of which receded rapidly as the Israeli military bulldozed row upon row of houses, widening the border’s buffer zone and claiming the newly razed Palestinian territory for its own. Comparative satellite photos from a 2004 Human Rights Watch publication titled Razing Rafah: Mass Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip document this “wholesale destruction” of Palestinian homes along Gaza’s southern border.
In e-mails to her mother, Rachel described her experience living with the Nasrallah family, whose home she was protesting in front of when she was killed: “the two front rooms of their house are unusable because gunshots have been fired through the walls, so the whole family—three kids and two parents—sleep in the parents’ bedroom. I sleep on the floor next to the youngest daughter, Iman, and we all share blankets. … Friday is the holiday, and when I woke up they were watching Gummy Bears dubbed into Arabic. So, I ate breakfast with them and sat there for a while and just enjoyed being in this big puddle of blankets with this family watching what for me seemed like Saturday morning cartoons.”
Although the house was not demolished that day, the family was forced to flee seven months later when the Israeli military cut sewer and power lines and badly damaged a structural wall. The home was fully demolished in spring 2004. It was home to five young children, four of whom were present behind their garden wall as the bulldozer unit approached and Rachel was killed.
Additional testimony of the Deputy Battalion Commander Included:
* He stated that there was a weekly work plan as well as a written “mission file” for the unit that identified the unit’s mission directive, participating forces, and instructions given to the force; including any safety instructions. However, this material was never released to Corrie family attorneys as part of discovery of the Military Police investigative file – a startling omission that calls into question the thoroughness of the government’s investigation into Rachel’s killing.
* Sh.R. identified that there was a female “scout” who recorded both video and audio files from the event, but claimed that not all the audio was recorded. Sh.R. also confirmed that cell phones, were also used, but unrecorded, to communicate orders back and forth between Captain S.R. and the Deputy Battalion Commander.
* Sh.R. stated he knew unarmed protestors were in the area, but in his opinion, stopping the work was not an option. He said the protesters were not a threat to the force, but added that if every foreigner came to raise banners, terrorists would also come and he would lose his ability to control the region. He admitted that avoiding a precedent was a consideration in the decision to continue working. He stated that in his opinion, the protesters should have been barred from entering Gaza.
* Although, he described in testimony that regulations state you don’t shoot unless there is intent and means to hurt you, a written summary of events recorded in the daily operations log on March 16, 2003, stated, “those foreigners should be handled and their entrance into the Gaza Strip should be forbidden. Additionally, the work must continue in the area in question. The firing orders state that every adult person should be shot to kill.” Within seven weeks of Rachel’s killing, award winning journalist James Miller and activist Tom Hurndall, both British citizens, were shot and killed along the same two mile stretch of the Rafah, Gaza border.
* When asked if he recalled being involved in an incident of “interference” with the military police investigation, Sh.R responded, “yes” and described how his Division Commander phoned him and ordered the investigation stopped due to a dispute over authorization. Sh.R. testified that he approached the lead investigator, interrupting the questioning of the bulldozer driver already in progress, and that personal words were exchanged. He acknowledged that he instructed the investigator to stop, based on orders of the High Command. When questioned about the ethics of interfering in a military police investigation, Sh.R. stated emphatically that he was given an order and he carried it out.
Following Sh.R’s testimony, Platoon Commander, A.D. took the stand. Unlike Sh.R, who was away from the scene, witness A.D. was present and second in command within the APC. He struggled to remember specific details about the events and said that he did not see the events before, during, or after they occurred. He also did not recall any lessons learned from the incident.
Highlights of Platoon Commander A.D.’s testimony included:
* He confirmed the unit would have been given a written “task file” before setting out on the work, although he could not remember anything about the specific file that day.
* The APC had a periscope from which they could see a longer distance from the vehicle.
* Commander R.S. spoke frequently on the cell phone and, in order to use it, he had to remove his helmet. This contradicts earlier military testimonies that claimed helmets worn would never be removed and, thus, soldiers would not have heard the protesters shouting through the megaphone nearby.
* He could not recall the specific safety instructions for the D9 bulldozer, but said the unit would continue working as carefully as possible. He believed work was allowed if protesters were within 15 meters of the vehicle, but not if they were within 5 meters.
* He knew that the protesters were civilians and “Americans.”
* He said there was a first aid kit within the APC, and he believed it was likely that the radio communications person in the vehicle was also a trained medic. However, he confirmed that the medical kit was not thrown to the protesters after Rachel was hit. Testimony made clear that no serious attempt was made by the military to provide medical assistance to Rachel at the scene prior to Palestinian medics evacuating her.
Please visit http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/trial for updates, changes to the court schedule, and related information.
For press related inquiries, please contact:
Email: [email protected]
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17575/
19 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 12 juni 2011
EN MEMORIA "RACHEL CORRIE" ACTIVISTA ,ASESINADA POR ISRAEL
19 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 12 juni 2011
American Free Press Radio Podcast:
(14:21) American Free Press Radio Podcast: The Trial of Rachel Corrie Pt 1
(14:22) American Free Press Radio Podcast: The Trial of Rachel Corrie Pt 2
(14:21) American Free Press Radio Podcast: The Trial of Rachel Corrie Pt 3
(14:21) American Free Press Radio Podcast: The Trial of Rachel Corrie Pt 4
(14:22) American Free Press Radio Podcast: The Trial of Rachel Corrie Pt 5
(14:22) American Free Press Radio Podcast: The Trial of Rachel Corrie Pt 6
(14:19) American Free Press Radio Podcast: The Trial of Rachel Corrie Pt 7
The ongoing civil lawsuit lodged by Rachel Corrie's family against the state of Israel for the unlawful killing of their daughter resumed on Thursday, October 7. The trial, which first began on March 10, is seeking prosecution for the killing of Rachel on March 23, 2003 in Rafah, Gaza. Rachel was killed by a bulldozer operated by IDF soldiers as she tried to block the demolition of a Palestinian home. Charlotte Silver reports.
Originally posted 11 October 2010
Shalom Michaeli, head of the Military Police Special Investigation, and the commander present at the scene of Rachel's death testified in court on Thursday. The commander's identity was restricted to his initials, A.S., and during his testimony, he remained hidden behind a curtain.
He is the first soldier to testify under the extraordinary secrecy motion that was granted to the state after attorneys argued that such unusual measures were needed to protect the soldiers' identity and safety. The government argued the soldiers were entitled to this measure based on an interpretation of Ehud Barak's 2008 security certificate, issued in response to an inquest by the Corrie family.
The prosecuting attorney, Abu Hussein, contended that by preventing the court from viewing the witnesses it was infringing upon the right to an open, fair, and transparent trial.
Cindy Corrie, the mother of Rachel, criticised the screening of witnesses. "The hardest part and one of the problems with the screen is that it dehumanizes the person behind it. I'm here to understand these people in new ways and the screen really prevents that."
Judge Oded Gershon ruled that those witnesses whose identities were not already revealed would remain behind a screen, which includes the solider driving the bulldozer that killed Rachel, and several others. Two soldiers will testify openly: the commander of the bulldozer that hit Rachel and the commander of the Armoured Personnel Carrier that was present at the scene. Military protocol requires that two soldiers be inside a bulldozer during operation: the driver and the commander. Commanders are considered "the eyes" of the operation and are responsible for directing the driver.
During Shalom Michaeli's testimony, he reiterated the position that at the time of Rachel's death, the Israeli military was "at war" with everyone in the area. On the request of Abu Hussein, Michaeli read aloud from a military operational instruction manual that stipulates that bulldozers should not be used when civilians are present. However, according to Michaeli, soldiers are not expected to adhere to these rules in this area.
Michaeli's statement echoes one made by a military training officer, "Yossi," who testified at the trial in September: "During war, there are no civilians."
Corrie observed, "The state is very interested in making sure the court doesn't think about why Rachel was there. She was in a civilian neighbourhood, where there were homes and people living,"
Corrie continued, "There's an effort on the part of the state to treat this as a war—that's distorting. This is an occupation and there are different rules for occupation. My understanding of international law is that you can't be at war with the area you're occupying."
Another controversial moment of Thursday's hearing occurred when the soldier, A.S claimed to have forgotten most of what transpired on the day of Rachel's killing, stating he did not see the bulldozer hit Rachel. However, only two months prior to this hearing, A.S. signed an affidavit for the state, affirming key details of the government's argument. On Thursday A.S. was unable to confirm any of the details of the affidavit, calling into serious question the validity of the document.
Commenting on A.S.'s testimony, Corrie stated, "My impression to listening to his voice was that what happened to Rachel was very minor to him—he couldn't even remember the time of day it happened... for me it was a bit startling that the event seemed to be so insignificant. That he had no recollection of what happened."
19 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 13 juni 2011
Shareholders to Caterpillar: ‘our product has become Israel’s weapon of choice for ethnic cleansing and potentially even war crimes’
IDF Caterpillar D9R armored bulldozer with cage armor and FN MAG 7.62mm machinegun
This speech was given to the Caterpillar Corporation’s CEO, their board of directors, and top management at the annual Caterpillar shareholder’s meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas on June 8, 2011.
The speech was given on behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace, which had purchased shares of Caterpillar stock so we could offer a shareholder proposal and make a speech in support of it. http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
Our shareholder proposal urged Caterpillar to review its policies related to human rights and to conform more fully with international human rights standards. Our proposal was endorsed many shareholders, including the Catholic Sisters of Loretto, and a coalition of other religious organizations. The proposal can be read at this link (PDF, look for Proposal 11): http://fwd4.me/03rh
Although our proposal did not pass, it received 21% of the votes, which is considered a high number for a proposal that was opposed by the company management.
Caterpillar shareholder speech in favor of Proposal 11
By Russ Greenleaf, on behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace
June 8, 2011
Little Rock, Arkansas
Hi. I’m Russ Greenleaf, a shareholder with Jewish Voice for Peace and a coalition of religious organizations, speaking in favor of Proposal 11.
I am Jewish. I am not anti-Israel. I have friends in Israel, and I want what’s best for them.
Caterpillar’s sale of D9 bulldozers to Israel is not good for Israel or for Caterpillar’s reputation. Israel’s routine use of those D9’s to destroy the homes of innocent Palestinian’s is making Israel a pariah in the world and destroying any chance for peace.
Amnesty International says, and I quote:
House demolitions usually are carried out without warning, often at night, and the occupants are given little or no time to leave their homes. Often the only warning they get is the rumbling of the Israeli army’s Caterpillar bulldozers. They barely have time to flee as the bulldozers tear down the walls of their homes.
Sometimes they are buried alive under the rubble.
An Israeli newspaper reported that an Israeli army D9 dozer operator said, and I quote:
I had no mercy for anybody. I would erase anyone with the D9. They were warned by loudspeaker to get out of the house before I came, but I gave no one a chance. I didn’t wait. I didn’t give one blow and wait for them to come out. I would just ram the house with full power, to bring it down as fast as possible.
Ladies and gentlemen these are very serious human rights violations, and they happen again and again -- with our knowledge.
The Israeli army says, quote: “The D9 is a strategic weapon here.”
Fellow shareholders, our product has become Israel’s weapon of choice for ethnic cleansing and potentially even war crimes. Israel knows it, and the world knows it. Yet our management buries its head in the sand when dealing with human rights. They say, quote:
"It is not clear what is meant by the Company's 'policies related to human rights.' "
That is exactly why we need proposal 11 – a call to review Caterpillar’s policies related to human rights and to conform more fully with human rights standards.
In the video we just saw, a Caterpillar representative said, “Our brand – our name – has high expectations. I think we should exceed high expectations.”
Caterpillar makes very little money from selling these military D9’s to Israel, but the cost to Caterpillar’s reputation is enormous, and escalating. It’s time to call a halt. Passing proposal 11 is a very modest first step in that direction. It’s long overdue.
I move proposal 11. Please vote for it. Thank you.
http://fwd4.me/03rg
...Read more 19 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 19 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 10 juli 2011
'Rachel murder case kept under wraps'
The father of Rachel Corrie, the US activist who was run over by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003, says his daughter's death has been kept under a cloud of non-clarity.
On Sunday, an Israeli court listened to its final witness in the case Col. Pinhas Zuaretz, Israel's commanding officer in the Gaza Strip at the time of Corrie's murder, the Associated Press reported.
Attending the court were Craig and Cindy Corrie, whose daughter was crushed to death at the age of 23 when trying to prevent the bulldozer from leveling a Palestinian residence.
The father said there has never been a credible and transparent investigation into the foul play.
The Israeli military has cleared the trooper, who was driving the bulldozer, saying a pile of dirt had prevented him from seeing Corrie.
The parents, however, filed a civil suit in 2005 and hearings finally commenced in last March.
Last year, Israel prevented an Irish vessel named after the victim from taking humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been under a Tel Aviv-imposed siege since mid-June 2007.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/188500.html
19 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 10 juli 2011
US activist death in Israel was accident: witness
(0:47) US activist death in Israel was accident: witness
19 mar 2012, 17:37 , Respect -
Maria 10 juli 2011
Corrie Family and Legal Team to Hold Press Conference Monday, July 11 at American Colony Hotel, Jerusalem
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Craig and Cindy Corrie, the parents of peace activist Rachel Corrie, will hold a press conference tomorrow, Monday, July 11, at 11:00 at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem to discuss the conclusion of testimonies in their civil case against the State of Israel for their daughter’s killing, as well as next steps in their efforts to seek accountability. They will be joined by Rachel’s sister, Sarah Corrie Simpson, and Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein.
Download this press release
Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist and human rights defender from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death on March 16, 2003, by an Israeli military Caterpillar D9R bulldozer while nonviolently protesting the demolition of Palestinian civilian homes with fellow members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), in Rafah, Gaza.
Since the trial opened in March 2010, 15 hearings have been held, with over 2000 pages of court transcripts recorded from 23 testimonies – including that of 15 Israeli military personnel, and four peace activist eye-witnesses with the International Solidarity Movement.
WHAT: Press Conference with family of Rachel Corrie and legal team.
WHEN: Monday, July 11, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Pasha Room, American Colony Hotel, Jerusalem, 1 Louis Vincent Street, Jerusalem
The press conference will be held in English, with attorneys available at the conclusion for brief interviews in both Arabic and Hebrew. Oral testimonies in the case are scheduled to conclude in Haifa today.
For press related inquiries, contact:
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
Phone: Stacy Sullivan (in Israel) at +972-54-280-7572 or +972-52-952-2143
Please visit the Trial Update page of the Rachel Corrie Foundation website for updates and related information.
http://fwd4.me/06G1
Trial Updates
Updated July 10, 2011
Craig and Cindy Corrie, the parents of peace activist Rachel Corrie, will hold a press conference tomorrow, Monday, July 11, at 11:00 at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem to discuss the conclusion of testimonies in their civil case against the State of Israel for their daughter’s killing, as well as next steps in their efforts to seek accountability. They will be joined by Rachel’s sister, Sarah Corrie Simpson, and Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein.
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/trial
19 mar 2012, 17:37 , Respect -
Maria 11 juli 2011
Rachel Corrie's family claim Israeli military withheld vital video evidence
Rachel Corrie died in Gaza in 2003 while protesting against house demolitions.
American activist's father says incomplete footage was given to court hearing into his daughter's death in Gaza.
The family of Rachel Corrie, the US activist killed in Gaza while protesting against house demolitions in 2003, on Monday claimed the Israeli military authorities withheld video evidence during the Corries' civil lawsuit and misled US officials on crucial details.
Craig Corrie, Rachel's father, told a press conference in Jerusalem that the footage from a surveillance camera near the scene of his daughter's death submitted to the court was "incomplete". Additional video material obtained by the family showed Rachel's body in a different spot to the place identified by some military commanders, he said.
He also alleged that the Israeli military had misled US officials on the position of Rachel's body when she was killed.
Rachel, 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 in March 2003. Her family and other activists who witnessed the incident say she was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer.
Following Rachel's death the then Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, promised US president George W Bush a "thorough, credible and transparent" investigation.
An internal Israeli military investigation, which was never published nor released to the US government nor the Corries, concluded that the two soldiers who operated the bulldozer had not seen Rachel and that no charges would be brought. The case was closed.
In March last year the Corrie family launched a civil case, accusing the military of either unlawfully or intentionally killing Rachel or of gross negligence. Hearings in the case ended on Sunday and a verdict is due to be delivered next April.
"After more than a year of hearings, we are at this moment in much the same place as we were when they began – up against a wall of Israeli officials determined to protect the state at all costs, including at the expense of truth," said Cindy Corrie, Rachel's mother.
"We came seeking accountability. We demand justice," said Craig Corrie.
The final witness in the case, Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, told the court in Haifa that Rafah was a war zone in 2003 and "reasonable people would not be there unless they had aims of attacking our forces". Members of the International Solidarity Movement, such as Rachel Corrie, were aiding "Palestinian terrorists", he said.
In arguing that the case should be dismissed, the Israeli government claimed Rachel was responsible for her own death. Both sides have 90 days to submit closing arguments in writing.
http://fwd4.me/06KM
19 mar 2012, 17:37 , Respect -
Maria 11 juli 2011
US activist death in Israel was accident: witness
HAIFA, Israel (AFP) -- A key witness in a civil case brought by the family of US activist Rachel Corrie, killed by an Israeli bulldozer during a demonstration in Gaza, said on Sunday that she had caused her own death.
Retired Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, a former brigade commander in Gaza, said a military police investigation into the March 2003 incident found no fault with the behavior of the bulldozer driver or the officers supervising him.
"Their operational behavior was correct," he told the Haifa courtroom, as Corrie's parents Craig and Cindy listened intently through interpreters.
He said the massive, armored D9 bulldozer was demolishing buildings from which shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a highly dangerous zone near the Gaza-Egypt border.
Zuaretz was giving evidence on the last day of hearings in the action brought by the Corries, who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Israeli military investigation.
They are suing the state of Israel and the defense ministry for one dollar plus costs.
The retired colonel said the bulldozer operator did not see Corrie because she was behind a pile of rubble, and that a concrete pillar among the debris had struck and killed her.
"She was killed in an accident caused by her own negligence," he said. "Anyone who runs toward the fire either has very deep ideology or is stupid."
Activists who witnessed the 23-year-old's death said she and others were acting as human shields to prevent a house demolition in the Gaza border town of Rafah for more than two hours and were clearly visible to the bulldozer driver.
Cindy Corrie told AFP that the military investigation was wound up despite inconsistencies in witness testimony.
"The two people inside the bulldozer disagree about where her body was placed after the incident happened," she said. "That was never reconciled yet they closed their investigation and found no fault."
Craig Corrie said that former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had promised then US president George W. Bush "a thorough, credible and transparent investigation."
"It's still the opinion of our government as well as our family that that has never happened," he said. "I think this trial has brought forward a number of cases where we can show explicitly how poor that investigation was."
Judge Oded Gershon said he would deliver his verdict next April.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404090
19 mar 2012, 17:37 , Respect -
Maria 13 juli 2011
The Case Of Rachel Corrie: Colonel Pinky’s Last Stand – OpEd
By Hatim Kanaaneh
Rachel Corrie died in Gaza in 2003 while protesting against house demolitions.
The last session of the Rachel Corrie court case in Haifa had been repeatedly postponed on account of the weightiness of the witness. Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, better known by his nickname, Pinky, was the commanding officer of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade at the time the late peace activist was killed. I decided to display my solidarity with my fellow countryman, to wear my heart on my sleeve so to speak. Lacking pink in my wardrobe I donned the loudest Aloha shirt I had with large off-pink flowery pattern. Pinky turned out to be weighty indeed: a rotund, dark-skinned, middle-aged man with closely cropped salt-and-pepper scalp, thick black eyebrows and bulldoggish jowls. Despite the reassurance of our shared Semitic features, his presence evoked in me the same gut-level discomfort I had always sensed whenever seeing Ariel Sharon or our current foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.
Don’t jump to conclusions, please! Some of my best friends are rotund. I have a teenage neighbor who on occasion helps me collect my free-range chicken eggs. He has a low IQ and an inborn glandular disorder that stores excessive fat on his short torso. Also I have many American friends who tower a foot or more over me. Whether a war criminal, a bar bouncer, a simpleton, or an average well-fed person, the sheer bulk of a corpulent man is enough to intimidate and rile me on the inside. Today’s witness was no exception: I wished I had worn black.
Even before he spoke, I decided that I wouldn’t want to wrestle with the man. His body language and his automatic assumption of priority in communicating with the judge, whose ruddy complexion suggested another longish repose on some tropical seaside, did little to reassure me. But Husain Abu-Husain proceeded right away to tangle with the man and to try to cut him down to size: How can a man of his rank make so many spelling mistakes in his written affidavit, Abu-Husain asked? Would he care to comment about the sexual harassment case a woman soldier once brought against him? Would he commit to the principle of protecting human life? To this last one Colonel Pinky acquiesced begrudgingly after stressing his first allegiance to protecting the life of his soldiers. And was he still convinced of his conclusion after his rushed investigation of the case of the late Rachel Corrie only hours after his soldiers’ D9R Caterpillars had crushed her to death that their conduct was flawless? To this he responded in the positive stating that Rachel had died through her own carelessness and willful interference on the side of the terrorists who had sent her to disrupt the soldiers’ orderly carrying out of their duty of leveling an area. The presence of the home of a certain Dr. Khalil and another ‘yellow house’ repeatedly mentioned in the military investigations was considered immaterial not only by the witness but also by the judge who struck the line of questioning from the record.
In Colonel Pinky’s logic there seemed to be no place for doubt: things were either white or black. What he repeatedly asserted was that the whole area was a war zone and anyone present in it was as good as dead, “ben mavit — mortal” by definition. Rachel was on the side of the enemy and her death should have been a forgone conclusion. How could someone miss such simple logic? Pinky shook his head repeatedly in exasperation at the unbelievable stupidity of his doubters. And his soldiers were performing their duties in a war zone. That included the killing of enemy combatants or of their supporters and messengers, he seemed to imply. And yet his soldiers acted in a humane manner. They tried to give first aid to the accidentally injured woman. Pinky emphasized this ‘humane gesture’ that his soldiers extended to another victim whom they had shot dead as well. This last bit of logic made perfect sense to me: When you willfully shoot to kill someone, why would you want to extend first aid to him or her? Indeed this was beyond the call of duty.
When Abu-Husain pointed out a contradiction between Pinky’s written affidavit and other documents on record regarding an injury he claimed he had suffered, the judge stepped in to rule that as irrelevant. This protective intervention was to be repeated by the judge several times, usually in response to the objection of the defense lawyer raised with such animated movement of her brightly manicured pretty hands over her head out of synch with whatever she was saying. I figured the woman would be something to behold with her favorite witness on a dance floor; she seemed so twirly and sympathetic to his preposterous who-the-hell-is-this-Arab-questioning-my-judgment stance.
Twice, in his attempt to shield the witness from the aggression of his unjust doubters, the judge made pronouncements so damning of the IDF that I expected Pinky to get up and slug him in the mouth: When Abu-Husain brought up the case of a soldier under Pinky’s command who had killed another international activist, lied about the circumstances of the murder and his story was taken as the honest truth by Pinky, the judge did not allow that into the record because he thought it was irrelevant to Rachel’s case. Besides, the judge rationalized, soldiers lie just as others do including in his court. Then there was the issue of drug abuse in the unit the members of which were involved in Rachel’s demise. Again the judge threw that out explaining that drug abuse was widespread in all units of the IDF. I expected Pinky to maul him so hard that he would need to go back to R&R at some far off rehab facility. But the commander swallowed the insult quietly. After all, from the start he gave signs of a common understanding between him, the defense, and the judge, not the result of some collusion, God forbid, but of each doing his duty in repulsing the onslaught of so many goyim on “the most ethical army in the world.” But especially Pinky had an expression of disgust at being badgered by a team of Palestinian lawyers. It didn’t make sense to me: True Abu-Husain is of darker skin and that may have justified Pinky’s look of condescension in his own eyes. But Dakwar, the second prosecution lawyer, is as fair-skinned as they come, fairer than the judge himself. I figured it must be size that decides status this time around.
In Colonel Pinky’s clear-minded view, the last question that Abu-Husain lobbed at him must have looked like the nastiest of curveballs: Abu-Husain must have seemed to him to be intent on adding insult to injury. He, a former ranking colonel and currently the Deputy Head of the FIDF (Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces,) had been already dragged enough through the mud: He had to defend himself against the attacks of a scrawny (by comparison) dark-skinned (also relatively so) Palestinian (also relatively so since his Palestinianism had been compromised by an Israeli citizenship in Pinky’s black-and-white world,) reminiscent in his private thoughts, no doubt, of the standard IDF practice dummies. And now the dark-faced, kaffiyah-clad, hole-riddled scarecrow wanted him to apologize to the parents of that foreign pro-terrorist provocateur! These Ishmaelites, our leaders told us, were supposed to serve us as “Hewers of wood and drawers of water.” Look at them now, biting the hand that feeds them. How terribly insulting it must have felt to the colonel. Thanks God the judge interfered and promptly halted the assault on the defenseless soldier even before the defense lawyers objected. He angrily explained the inappropriateness of such a gesture before He Himself had a chance to issue His ruling.
In rural Galilee the older folks tell a story about a wild Bedouin’s first encounter with the law. He was dragged into town and kept overnight in a cell repeatedly threatened by his jailers with having to face the judge. After the affair was over he was heard explaining gleefully: “I was scared stiff by the prospect of tangling with the judge. But the judge turned out to be a man.”
After all, our judge turns out to be an Israeli man. I bet you my last Aloha shirt the Corries will not get the one dollar they are suing for.
- Hatim Kanaaneh, MD, MPH is the author of ‘A Doctor in Galilee: the Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Israel’, Pluto Press, 2008. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Visit: http://fwd4.me/06UN
http://fwd4.me/06UJ