Exactly seven years after her death, her family launched a civil suit against the state of Israel and the defence ministry for the symbolic sum of $1, plus costs.
Standing outside the court, the Corries’ lawyer Hussein Abu Hussein told reporters that the family would appeal the verdict.
“The verdict is based upon distorted facts and could have been written by the state’s attorney,” he said after a legal battle of nearly 30 months. “We are going to appeal.”
Standing behind him, Craig Corrie was stony faced, while his wife Cindy looked heartbroken and close to tears, at one point resting her head upon his shoulder, an AFP correspondent said.
Rachel Corrie's mother Cindy gives her reaction to the Israeli courts judgement (BBC)
The family, who travelled from the United States to attend the hearing, followed the proceedings with the help of an interpreter.
They were accompanied by around 50 friends and well-wishers.
An Israeli military investigation into the incident was closed several months after her death without any disciplinary action, saying the bulldozer crew could not see Corrie because she was behind a mound of rubble.
Rachel Corrie standing infront of an IDF bulldozer in Rafah in 2003 moments before she died (International Solidarity Movement/Getty Images)
But activists who were with her at the time said she was clearly visible to the driver of the military bulldozer.
At the time, the military said Corrie had died after being struck by building materials and not by the bulldozer.
“The death of Ms. Corrie was not caused as a result of a direct action by the bulldozer or by its running her over, but by the falling of earth and building materials that was pushed by the bulldozer,” it said at the time.
The army went on to accuse Corrie and other activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) of “illegal and irresponsible behaviour” contributing to her death.
Corrie was killed at the height of the second intifada, or uprising (2000-2005) and quickly became an symbol of foreign support for the Palestinian cause and the subject of a 2005 play based on her emails and diary.
Source: AFP
