Parents of protester killed by Israeli bulldozer hear driver’s testimony

THE parents of an American protester crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip got their first chance yesterday to hear from the man who drove the vehicle that killed her.

But they were denied a chance to confront him face-to-face in an Israeli courtroom, dashing a central goal of their civil lawsuit against Israel’s Defence Ministry. The unidentified former soldier was shielded behind a wood-and-plastic partition, and his testimony about the events leading up to 23-year-old Rachel Corrie’s death floated into the hall over a microphone.

“I wish I could see the whole human being,” Cindy Corrie said before the testimony began, her voice shaking. She and her husband, Craig, travelled from their home in Olympia, Washington, to hear his testimony.

Their daughter was killed in 2003 while trying to block the bulldozer from demolishing a Palestinian home in Gaza.

An army investigation concluded she was partially hidden behind a dirt mound and ruled her death an accident. The driver and his commander were not charged or tried and no one was punished.

The activist’s parents filed their civil suit in 2005, and petitioned Israeli courts for a chance to look the bulldozer driver in the eye. That request was rejected.

“The Israeli government and the Israeli military are hiding behind the screens,” Cindy Corrie said after yesterday’s testimony got under way.

The state’s lawyer, Irit Kalman, said the driver was behind a screen because “we want soldiers to feel free to give a real testimony. We could have asked for a closed-door trial, but we wanted them (the family) to hear everything going on in this trial,” she said.

The Corries’ lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, spent hours trying to poke holes in past testimony the driver gave to the military inquiry that cleared him. At one point, he pulled out a toy bulldozer, a green ball meant to represent the mound of dirt and a toy fish to represent the young American woman. The Corries were seated between translators about 15 feet from the driver.

“I haven’t heard one moment of remorse, and to me, that’s one of the saddest things,” Cindy Corrie said during a break in the proceedings.

The family has criticised the Israeli military investigation and lobbied US officials to pressure Israel to reopen it.

They have also tried unsuccessfully to sue Caterpillar, the US company that manufactured the bulldozer. They claimed it was liable for aiding and abetting human rights violations.

Rachel’s fellow activists claim she was killed deliberately and see her as a symbol of what they consider to be Israeli brutality.

The Corries are seeking a symbolic $1 in damages plus trial costs and travel expenses for themselves and witnesses, which they have estimated at $100,000. Hearings began earlier this year.