Judge Oded Gershon | The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice

Bulldozer driver testimony underscores lack of transparency in Corrie trial

Posted on October 23, 2010

Voice behind screen says soldiers don’t stop work

(Haifa, Israel – October 23, 2010)–The bulldozer driver who struck and killed Rachel Corrie in March 2003, in Rafah, Gaza, testified for the first time Thursday in the civil lawsuit filed by the Corrie family against the state of Israel, but did so under extraordinary protective measures that continue to underscore the lack of transparency in the investigation as well as the trial process.

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The driver, Y.P., whose name was not released, is a 38-year-old Russian immigrant who came to Israel in 1995. He was the sole witness for the day and gave his testimony over four hours behind a makeshift partition, a measure the state claimed was necessary to protect his security. Attorneys for the Corries requested that the family be allowed to see the driver even if the public could not, but their appeals were denied. […]

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Bulldozer driver and ground commander to testify in Corrie trial

Posted on October 18, 2010

Supreme Court refuses challenge to use of screen to shield soldiers

(Haifa, Israel – October 18, 2010)– The driver of the bulldozer that crushed to death Rachel Corrie in Rafah, Gaza, in March 2003, and the military commander in charge of the unit on the ground that day, are scheduled to testify on Thursday, October 21 in the civil lawsuit filed by Rachel’s family against the state of Israel for her unlawful killing.

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Earlier this month, the court granted the State of Israel’s request that soldiers involved in the incident be permitted to testify behind a screen to protect their identity. Lawyers for the Corrie family appealed the decision to the Israeli Supreme Court, requesting that at a minimum the family be allowed to view the soldiers, but the court refused to hear the challenge.

Consequently, the bulldozer driver will testify behind a screen. However, because the unit commander on the ground that day, Captain R.S., gave an interview that was broadcast on Israeli television in 2003, and was thus already known to the public, the presiding judge ruled that he will testify in plain view. Although disclosed during the TV broadcast, his name still remains redacted in official court records. […]

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Corrie family appeals decision allowing soldiers to testify behind screen

Posted on October 10, 2010

Updated October 14 to reflect new court dates.

(Haifa, Israel – October 10, 2010) – Lawyers for the family of Rachel Corrie filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday, challenging a decision to allow soldiers to testify behind a screen in the lawsuit filed against the State of Israel for the unlawful killing of the American peace activist in Rafah, Gaza.

State attorneys made the highly unusual request in court on Thursday, October 7 arguing that they were necessary to protect the soldiers’ safety and prevent their images from being circulated. Haifa District Court Judge Oded Gershon granted the request, ruling that all but two soldiers, who were both already known to the public, would be permitted to provide their testimony hidden from public view. […]

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Israeli soldiers to testify behind screen in Corrie Case

Posted on October 7, 2010

  Extraordinary state secrecy motion is granted

Witnesses in Corrie trial to testify behind a screen.

(Haifa, Israel – October 7, 2010)– The Haifa District Court on Thursday granted a government request to allow soldiers to testify behind a screen in the lawsuit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family against the State of Israel for her unlawful killing in Rafah, Gaza.

The order includes the driver of the bulldozer that killed Rachel, who is slated to testify later this month. However, Judge Oded Gershon ruled that both the commander of the unit and the second soldier in the bulldozer that hit Rachel would testify in plain view, because their faces were already publicly known. […]

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Israeli military Colonel states, “There are no civilians in war zones.”

Posted on September 6, 2010

(Haifa, Israel – September 6, 2010)– Several State witnesses testified in Haifa District Court on Monday, in the civil law suit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family against the State of Israel for her unlawful killing in Rafah, Gaza.

Rachel Corrie, an American human rights defender from Olympia, WA, was crushed to death on March 16, 2003, by a Caterpillar D9R military bulldozer. She had been nonviolently demonstrating against the demolitions of Palestinian homes.

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One of the witnesses, known to the court as Yossi, was a Colonel in the Engineering Corps. He was responsible for writing operating manuals for military bulldozers and other equipment. He also conducted a simulation of what the bulldozer driver would have been able to see. In his testimony:

He repeatedly insisted that there are no civilians in a war zone. His assertion disregards the reality in the Palestinian Occupied Territories as well as international humanitarian law, which was created to protect civilians in armed conflict situations.

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