Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Getting away with murder

In the wake of Rachel Corrie’s death, the spotlight falls on the Israeli establishment’s continued negligence of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention.

Rachel Corrie, a September 2002 photograph. She was run over by a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier.-DENNY STERNSTEIN/AP

To people living under Israeli occupation, the acquittal on August 28 of the Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldier responsible for the death of the young American peace activist Rachel Corrie came as no surprise ( Frontline, April 11, 2003). They have had a long experience of Israels dubious legal system. Thousands of Palestinians languish in Israeli jails. Israeli security personnel responsible for gross human rights abuses in the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon remain free.

The Rachel Corrie case had become an international cause clbre. On March 16, 2003, the 23-year-old girl who was part of a peace delegation from the U.S. was run over by an armoured Caterpillar bulldozer driven by an IDF soldier. The bulldozer was being used to demolish Palestinian homes in Rafa in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip, then as well as now, remains under siege by the Israeli army. It has been described as the worlds biggest open air prison. Eyewitnesses to the incident said that Rachel was run over deliberately. Frustrated at the Israeli governments efforts to gloss over the killing, Rachels parents filed a civil suit in an Israeli court in 2005 against the countrys Ministry of Defence.

The Israeli authorities saw to it that the case dragged on for seven long years. When the presiding judge finally gave his verdict, he ruled that Rachel was guilty of having intentionally entered a combat zone in order to protect terrorists. The judge went on to add that in any case she was acting irrationally. According to the Corrie familys lawyer, the courts judgment exactly mirrored the arguments of the Israeli Defence Ministry, so much so that it could have been written by them. The main arguments of the Israeli state were that the driver did not see Rachel though she was standing in plain sight wearing a fluorescent jacket, and that during a war there are no civilians.

For the past 45 years, the Israeli Supreme Court has consistently ignored international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which protects civilians living in conflict zones and areas under occupation. Rachel was the first foreigner killed by the IDF. After Rachels death, the IDF has killed more foreign peace activists working among Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Just before Rachels death, the US had vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution criticising Israel for the killing of three U.N. workers by the IDF in the occupied territories. The veto was a green signal for Israel. The Rachel Corrie verdict has shown it that it can even get away with the killing of an American citizen.