Rachel Corrie

Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She was crushed to death in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bulldozer when she was kneeling in front of a local Palestinian 's home, thus acting as a human shield , attempting to prevent IDF forces from demolishing the home . The IDF has claimed that the death was due to the restricted angle of view of the IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozer driver, while ISM eyewitnesses said "there was nothing to obscure the driver's view." A student at the Evergreen State College , she had taken a year off and traveled to the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada .

Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American peace activist and diarist. She was killed by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) armored bulldozer in a combat zone in Rafah , in the southern part of the Gaza Strip , under contested circumstances during the height of the second Palestinian intifada . She had come to Gaza as part of her senior-year college assignment to connect her home town with Rafah in a sister cities project. While there, she had engaged with other International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists in efforts to prevent the Israeli army's demolition of Palestinian houses. Less than two months after her arrival, on March 16, 2003, Corrie was killed during an Israeli military operation after a three-hour confrontation between Israeli soldiers operating two bulldozers and eight ISM activists. The exact nature of her death and the culpability of the bulldozer operator are disputed, with fellow ISM protestors saying that the Israeli soldier operating the bulldozer deliberately ran over Corrie, and Israeli eyewitnesses saying that it was an accident since the bulldozer operator could not see her. In 2005 Corrie's parents filed a civil lawsuit against the state of Israel . The lawsuit charged Israel with not conducting a full and credible investigation into the case and with responsibility for her death, contending that she had either been intentionally killed or that the soldiers had acted with reckless neglect. They sued for a symbolic one US dollar in damages. In August 2012, an Israeli court rejected their suit and upheld the results of the 2003 military investigation, ruling that the Israeli government was not responsible for Corrie's death. The ruling was met with some criticism. An appeal against the August 2012 ruling was heard on May 21, 2014. On February 14, 2015, Israel's supreme court rejected the appeal. The Times of Israel . The Sydney Morning Herald . "Rachel Corrie's family loses wrongful death appeal in Israel's supreme court" . the Guardian .

She was a member of a pro-Palestinian group called the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She was killed by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) armored bulldozer in a combat zone in Rafah , in the southern part of the Gaza Strip , under contested circumstances during the height of the second Palestinian intifada . She had gone to Gaza as part of her senior-year college assignment to connect her home town with Rafah in a sister cities project. While there, she had engaged with other International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists in efforts to prevent the Israeli army's demolition of Palestinian houses. According to the Israeli authorities the demolitions were carried out to eliminate weapons-smuggling tunnels. According to human rights groups the demolitions were used as collective punishment . Less than two months after her arrival, on March 16, 2003, Corrie was killed during an Israeli military operation after a three-hour confrontation between Israeli soldiers operating two bulldozers and eight ISM activists. The exact nature of her death and the culpability of the bulldozer operator are disputed, with fellow ISM protestors saying that the Israeli soldier operating the bulldozer deliberately ran over Corrie, and Israeli eyewitnesses saying that it was an accident since the bulldozer operator could not see her. The Israeli army conducted an investigation, which concluded that the death was an accident, and that the driver of the bulldozer could not see Corrie due to limited visibility from his cab. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as B'Tselem and Yesh Din criticized the military investigation. In 2005, Corrie's parents filed a civil lawsuit against the state of Israel . The lawsuit charged Israel with not conducting a full and credible investigation into the case and with responsibility for her death, contending that she had either been intentionally killed or that the soldiers had acted with reckless neglect. They sued for a symbolic one US dollar in damages. In August 2012, an Israeli court rejected their suit and upheld the results of the 2003 military investigation, ruling that the Israeli government was not responsible for Corrie's death. The ruling was met with criticism by some human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and by activists. An appeal against the August 2012 ruling was heard on May 21, 2014. On February 14, 2015, the Supreme Court of Israel rejected the appeal. The Times of Israel . "Israeli court dismisses Corrie family's lawsuit, ending effort to put army on trial (+video)" .

American activist and diarist Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American activist and diarist. A member of the pro-Palestinian group International Solidarity Movement (ISM), she was crushed to death by an armored bulldozer of the Israel Defense Forces in a southern Gaza Strip combat zone during the height of the Second Intifada under contested circumstances. She had gone to Gaza as part of her college senior-year independent-study proposal to connect her home town and Rafah as sister cities . While there, she had joined other ISM activists in efforts to prevent the Israeli demolition of Palestinian property . According to the Israeli authorities the demolitions were carried out to eliminate weapons-smuggling tunnels. According to human rights groups the demolitions were used as collective punishment . The exact nature of her death and the culpability of the bulldozer operator are disputed, with fellow ISM protestors saying that the Israeli soldier operating the bulldozer deliberately ran over Corrie, and Israeli eyewitnesses saying that it was an accident since the bulldozer operator could not see her. The Israeli army conducted an investigation, which concluded that the death was an accident, and that the driver of the bulldozer could not see Corrie due to limited visibility from his cab. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as B'Tselem and Yesh Din criticized the military investigation. In 2005, Corrie's parents filed a civil lawsuit against the state of Israel. The lawsuit charged Israel with not conducting a full and credible investigation into the case and with responsibility for her death, contending that she had either been intentionally killed or that the soldiers had acted with reckless neglect. They sued for a symbolic one U.S. dollar in damages. An Israeli court rejected their suit in August 2012 and upheld the results of the 2003 military investigation, ruling that the Israeli government was not responsible for Corrie's death. The ruling was met with criticism by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and by activists. An appeal against this ruling was heard on May 21, 2014. On February 14, 2015, the Supreme Court of Israel rejected the appeal. The Times of Israel . "Israeli court dismisses Corrie family's lawsuit, ending effort to put army on trial (+video)" .

American activist and diarist (1979–2003) Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American nonviolence activist and diarist . She was a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and was active throughout the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories . In 2003, she was in Rafah , a city in the Gaza Strip , where the Israeli military was demolishing Palestinian houses at the height of the Second Intifada . While protesting the demolitions as they were being carried out, she was killed by an Israeli armored bulldozer that crushed her. After graduating from Capital High School, she went on to attend Evergreen State College . She took a year off from her studies to work as a volunteer in the Washington State Conservation Corps, where she spent three years making weekly visits to mental patients. While at Evergreen State College, she became a "committed peace activist", arranging peace events through a local group called "Olympians for Peace and Solidarity". She later joined the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) organization in order to protest the policies of the Israeli army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Corrie went to Gaza as part of her college's senior-year independent-study proposal to connect Olympia and Rafah with each other as sister cities . While in Rafah on March 16, 2003, she joined other ISM activists in efforts to nonviolently prevent Israel's demolition of Palestinian property, where she was killed by an Israeli bulldozer that crushed her. Physicians present and fellow ISM activists stated that Corrie had been wearing a high-visibility vest and was deliberately driven over, while the Israeli army said that it was an accident because the bulldozer operator did not see her. Following the incident, an Israeli military investigation concluded that Corrie's death was the result of an accident and that the bulldozer operator had limited visibility. The ruling attracted criticism from Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch , B'Tselem , and Yesh Din . HRW stated that the ruling represented a pattern of impunity for Israeli forces. In 2005, Corrie's parents filed a civil lawsuit, charging the Israeli state with not conducting a full and credible investigation into the case and therefore holding responsibility for her death. They contended that either she had been intentionally killed or the Israeli soldiers on scene had acted with reckless neglect. They sued for a symbolic US$1 in damages. However, an Israeli court rejected their suit in August 2012 and upheld the results of the military's investigation, ruling that the Israeli government was not responsible for Corrie's death, again attracting criticism from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and various activists. An appeal against this ruling was heard on May 21, 2014, but was ultimately rejected by the Supreme Court of Israel on February 14, 2015. The Times of Israel . "Israeli court dismisses Corrie family's lawsuit, ending effort to put army on trial (+video)" .