street roots
Nov. 9, 2012
BY JAKE THOMAS
S T A F F W R IT E R
lympia, Wash, is an “All-American
City,” according to the sign that
greets visitors. It’s also the
hometown of Rachel Corrie, who has had a
street named after her in Iran’s capital, a
play produced about her life staged on
almost every continent, and whose death
P H O T O S C O U R T E S Y T H E R A C H E L C O R R I E F O U N D A T IO N F O R P E A C E A N D J U S T IC E
Rachel Corrie (far right) with the Nasrallah fam ily in Rafah, Gaza in 2003. This is the fam ily
continues to be a source controversy.
who lived in the house that Rachel was killed defending. The photo was taken inside the garden
In 2003, Corrie, a 23-year-old student at
wall o f their home.
Olympia’s Evergreen State College and
peace activist, was crushed to death while
trying to prevent an Israeli bulldozer from
demolishing a Palestinian home in southern
Gaza. Following her death, Corrie’s parents,
Craig and Cindy Corrie, became embroiled
in a heated international issue that they had
only given passing attention to in the past.
The continue today to find answers to why
their daughter was slain while trying to gain
some sort of accountability from Israel.
In August, an Israeli judge handed down a
what our attorney did. For instance, he
what was going on there at the time.
ruling on the civil lawsuit brought by the
found that the investigation done by the
Corries against Israel and its Ministry of
Israeli military police was, I believe,
J.T.: So what would like to see come out of
Defense. The judge absolved Israel of any
the courts?
“faultless” when translated into English.
responsibility for Corrie’s death, ruling that
The day after Rachel was killed, President
the state couldn’t be held at fault for civilian
Cindy: All along our purpose has been to
Bush was promised a thorough, credible and
deaths that occur in conflict areas. The
fin d tru th , to h a v e acco u n ta b ility , to h a v e
transparent investigation by Isr a e li P r im e
ruling was panned by human rights
ju
s tic e for R a ch el, b u t a lso to b rin g a tte n tio n
M inister Ariel Sharon, and it’s still the
advocates, who said that it enforced a
to a situation that has harmed a great many
position of our government that that never
culture of impunity in the Israeli military
people, and we believe is harmful to Israel,
happened.
while also setting a dangerous precedent
as well as its military. And it’s not just Craig
When people came to the witness stand,
that could affect the safety of activists and
and me and our family that have articulated
particularly the person who conducted the
journalists operating in conflict areas in
this, there are Israeli organizations who
investigation, it became amazingly obvious
Israel-Palestine.
have provided legal assistance to
that the investigation was lacking. They
Despite the judge’s ruling, questions
Palestinians and so fourth, and their
found out that there was a camera on the
concerning why and exactly how Rachel
border that was taking video, and they failed position is that the courts and their system
Corrie died remain unsettled. Although the
of investigation and accountability has been
to produce all .of that video that was
court found her death to be an accident,
really very faulty.
available for the day. They claim that it
others dispute that finding, arguing that she
So you know it’s unusual for a case like
started right as Rachel was killed, and there
was intentionally run over. Additionally, the
this to go to this length in Israel. Either
was no more video. He said that the copy of
military investigation into Corrie’s death has that video was first given to the officers in
people are not able to bring a lawsuit or
been widely criticized, even by the State
something happened early on and they are
charge of the higher echelons of the chain
Department under President George Bush,
halted. Ours was actually slowed down for a
of command, and I think it was one week
a staunch ally of Israel.
while because the Knesset [Israeli
later that he got a copy of it. Well, other
Following the court ruling, the Guardian
parliament] had passed a law saying you
video from that time has been on Israeli TV,
newspaper called Corrie a “memory that
couldn’t bring suit against the Israeli
it’s been on different documentaries, our
refuses to die.” A play based on her
military in a conflict area. That law, to some
government has seen it, we’ve seen it. This
writings, “My Name is Rachel Corrie,”
guy is testifying that there is no other video, . extent, still applies, but it was overturned by
continues to be produced, and her parents
the Supreme Court. But there are many
but we don’t have the chain of custody of
hope to carry on her work through the
that video to produce it in court, so that was Palestinians who never have the opportunity
Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and
to pursue justice. You know the case has
a particularly appalling piece of it.
Justice.
forced the Israeli military to come to court
Street Roots spoke with the Corries
to testify and at least be accountable to that
Cindy Corrie: I would just add that the
about their experience seeking truth about
degree in their own country.
lead investigator testified in court that they
their daughter’s death, their plans to appeal
believed they were at war with everyone in
the court decision and what it’s like having
Craig: We went into it really with two
Gaza including the peace activists, which
their daughter become an international
goals: to get some idea of truth with Rachel
was startling. This is someone you would
symbol.
and some accountability. There is a lot of
hope would be impartial. It seems hard for
truth that did not come out. But in terms of
me to believe that he could be impartial
Jake Thom as: You’re preparing to appeal
accountability, I would like to have the high
with that attitude.
your case to the Israeli Supreme Court. What
court look at the investigation and say, no
There was a military log that was written
are you hoping the outcome will be?
this is not credible and transparent.
the day Rachel was killed. The last entry
We brought witnesses and they had a very
that day was from the deputy high
Craig Corrie: Well, I think for one thing,
different account of what happened that day
commander, who was in charge, who wrote
the general opinion of the judge was that
about a shoot-to-kill order on the border that than the soldiers, and they agreed with each
Rachel was killed as an act of war, and Israel was always expanding because they were
other and it was consistent-with what they
is not responsible for anything it does as an
told to the media and the Israeli lawyers
taking down rows and rows of houses, and
act of war. I think that flies in the face of a
right after Rachel was killed. So there is a
he commented that that order needed to
whole lot of international law. I think it flies
consistent side of this we heard from the
remain and was important.
in the face, as a solider in Vietnam; what I
witnesses on Rachel’s side. We’d like to see
Two other internationals were killed after
was taught our responsibilities were. I think
that recognized by the court, we’d like to
Rachel. A peace activist was shot in the
it flies in the face of common decency. I
see all the inconsistencies of the Israeli
head within a two-mile stretch of where
think it makes it particularly problematic for
military looked at by the court, and at the
Rachel was killed within seven weeks. A
any civilian in a war or conflict area. I think
end of the day some sort of accountability
photojournalist who was doing a film on
it makes it difficult for journalists, and
for the actions of this military.
home demolitions was killed. So three
I was squad leader in Vietnam, and,
certainly for Rachel as a human rights
internationals and many Gazan civilians
observer. So that overarching finding needs
strangely enough, part of my duties were to
were killed during that period, and yet the
be in charge of bulldozer operations in the
to be challenged, and that’s far bigger than
lead investigator never questioned the
jungle. You are responsible for what’s in
Rachel. I think that when you look at what
military about the shoot-to-kill order and
the judge wrote, I think he ignored most of
O
Defending Rachel Corrie
Craig and Cindy Corrie are fighting in Israeli court
and continuing their daughter’s legacy of peace
front of that blade, and as a squad leader,
you’re in charge of the behavior of 10 men.
Part of that is war crimes don’t occur, and
they come back whole, not just physically,
but mentally and morally, and that’s a really
hard job that needs to happen before these
incidents occur.
Everything I’ve been able to figure out
about the Israeli Defense Forces is that
they’re really behind on that sort of thing.
There is no accountability. There was a girl
killed on the border that they recorded the
radio conversation of that confirmed the kill
of this little girl, and you know the solider
didn’t even get convicted largely because of
a botched investigation that was carried out
by the same person who investigated
Rachel’s case. That’s horrific.
So that’s a lot to ask out of one appeal.
The court is coming in saying that they
recognize no civilian in the whole of Gaza.
That’s something we could perhaps have a
positive impact on.
J.T.: I read in one media account that
quoted your lawyer saying you’ve been fighting
an uphill battle. How optimistic are you about
this appeal?
C indy: Well, we’re realistic and have been
throughout. The Israeli Supreme Court, in
some matters, has a good reputation and
has taken some stands that have gone
against the government. It will be a panel of
judges. We were reliant on one judge. So we
just have to wait and see, but the point that
Craig made is that in some ways we felt like
we have no choice but to appeal because the
decision was such a bad one, such a
damaging one to basic human rights.
Craig: I think you have to demand justice
no matter what your expectations are. We
can’t let the opportunity for justice to die
because we didn’t try. You have to go after
it, or I think it’s a real problem for our
society as a whole
Cindy: We would never want to prejudge
what the Israeli Supreme Court will do. I
remained optimistic about the judge we had
in Haifa District Court up until the moment
my friend started to translate to me what he
had to say, and I will be optimistic about the
Israeli Supreme Court. There are
possibilities beyond that. There are
international venues, but one cannot pursue
justice through those until you’ve exhausted
all the possibilities in a country’s legal
system. So we’re just taking the next
important step that we need to take.
J.T.: I ’ve read that going to court for you
was an absolutely last resort. What had you
done previously?
Cindy: We worked with our congressman,
Brian Baird, who said we could call for an
investigation into Rachel’s case, and he
introduced a bill to do that. He, knowing the
landscape in the U.S. Congress, thought we
would get 30 supporters. After about two
years, that resolution died in committee. It
never came out of the committee controlled
by a congresswoman from Florida who is
very supportive of Israel, but there were 78
members of Congress who signed on in
support. Our extended family visited every
congressional office calling for support of
that resolution. We worked with the State
See CORRIES, page 7