Corrie witness: Army tried to alter my statement

Published yesterday (updated) 16/03/2010 20:17

Bethlehem - Ma'an -

The Haifa District Court on Monday saw the third day of testimony in the civil lawsuit filed by Rachel Corrie’s parents against the Israeli occupation government for the unlawful killing of their daughter in Rafah, Gaza.

Rachel was crushed to death, on March 16, 2003, by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer. She had been demonstrating against Palestinian home demolitions with fellow members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles.

Monday's only testimony came from British citizen Alice Coy, a nurse, who was an eyewitness to the killing. The Israeli occupation government spent most of the day trying to establish that contrary to all eyewitness accounts and human rights reports, the Israeli occupation forces had no intention of demolishing homes in the area on the day Rachel was killed, the Rachel Corrie Foundation said in a statement.

Coy testified that when the Israeli military interviewed her on 1 April about Rachel’s killing, the soldier who documented her testimony refused to record her statement that she believed the bulldozers were going to destroy civilian homes.

She believed the Israeli occupation forces was planning to demolish homes on the day Rachel was killed because they had been demolishing homes on the Philadelphi Corridor in the days and weeks prior, and because they had already begun to demolish a house earlier that day by damaging its porch, Coy said, according to the Rachel Corrie Foundation statement.

Coy had spoken with many Palestinian families in the area where Rachel was killed whose homes had been demolished by the Israeli occupation forces , and told the court that she believed the bulldozer driver who killed Rachel could see her. She described her view of her work with ISM as promoting peace for the whole region, the statement said.

Seven years after Rachel's death, her parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie arrived in Israel's Haifa District Court on Wednesday. The court has heard witness testimony in the opening days of the civil trial seeking compensation.

In the first day of the trial, the court heard testimony from Richard Purssell, a British activist with the International Solidarity Movement who described how an Israeli Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer drove over approximately four meters over Corrie, before reversing back over her. Another British ISM member, Tom Dale, also testified.

Three officials from the US Embassy in Tel Aviv attended the hearing, among them the Consul General Andrew Parker. The Corries also said they met with aides to US Vice President Joe Biden. US officials have pledged to attend every court session, Craig Corrie told Ma'an.

On Thursday, the Israeli occupation government Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement laying out its case. It claimed "The driver of the bulldozer and his commander had a very limited field of vision, such that they had no possibility of seeing Ms. Corrie."

The  Israeli occupation government also argued that Corrie's death was caused by "a military action in the course of war," for which the  Israeli occupation government therefore bears no responsibility !!!

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