Court to announce Rachel Corrie verdict on Aug 28

An Israeli court on August 28 will announce the verdict of a civil lawsuit against the State of Israel for the killing of Rachel Corrie, a foundation in her name said this week. The 23-year-old peace activist was killed on March 16, 2003 while nonviolently protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza. The Corrie family filed a lawsuit against the State of Israel in 2005, charging it with responsibility for Rachel's death and the failure to conduct a full investigation into the case, The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the Corrie family told Ma'an that the investigation by Israeli military police into Rachel's death had been "careless and shoddy," as well as emotionally taxing for the family. Israeli soldiers had signed testimonies about the events and then couldn't remember them in court and multiple government experts said on the stand that Rachel should not have been in a war-zone in the first place and therefore the Israeli government was not responsible for her death, Stacy Sullivan told Ma'an. The driver of the bulldozer that killed Rachel did not remember her name in court, or the date of the incident, Sullivan said, adding that he only knew that he had killed an American, or Westerner. The State of Israel claims that the driver of the bulldozer did not see Rachel and that a military police investigation found no wrongdoing. Four eyewitnesses from the International Solidarity Movement testified that Rachel was visible to soldiers in the bulldozer as it approached and according to the US State Department, a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation was never conducted. The verdict on August 28 will be the first step in a long and trying process, Sullivan said. The Corrie family hope that the judge will find the army responsible for negligence in Rachel's death, although they expect both sides will appeal any verdict. A judge will announce his decision on the lawsuit at 9.00 a.m in Haifa District Court.