Israel's military rules activist's death an accident

Israeli military officials have ended their investigation into the death of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, concluding it was an accident and no disciplinary measures are necessary.

Wearing an orange jacket and carrying a bullhorn, Corrie, 23, died March 16 after being crushed by an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. She had been protesting the destruction of Palestinian homes in Rafah, near the Egyptian border.

The decision to close the file was made by the military advocate general, Maj. Gen. Menahem Finkelstein, according to the Thursday editions of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, following his review of a probe conducted by the IDF's Military Police.

That investigation found that the driver of the bulldozer had not seen Corrie and had not intentionally run over her. It was not clear the advocate general's decision would end the matter, however.

Craig and Cindy Corrie, Rachel's parents, have been in Washington for more than a week, pressing the U.S. State Department and members of Congress for an independent investigation into their daughter's death.

Craig Corrie said Friday that he and his wife had spoken to officials in the Israeli Embassy earlier this week, "and we were promised that there would be a formal report that we would be able to see."

"In the meantime," he said, "we continue to ask for an American investigation, and we would of course expect Israel to cooperate with that."

Rachel Corrie was protesting with members of the International Solidarity Movement, and ISM members who witnessed the incident said there was no chance Rachel could not have been seen by the operator of the bulldozer.

"It's a whitewash, that's clear," said Shimona Sharoni, an Israeli peace activist who teaches at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., where Corrie was a student. "I'm not really surprised. Appalled, yes, but not surprised."

Her death initially received scant press attention, in part because President George W. Bush began war with Iraq just a few days after she died. Interest slowly built, however, as her parents and a number of peace organizations took her case to the public. Corrie, they said, was neither dupe nor martyr, but a compassionate woman who believed in helping people she thought were in trouble, in this case Palestinian families losing homes to bulldozers.

Israeli officials have taken a different view, calling her work a boon to terrorists and her death "stupid."

Home demolition is a controversial "collective punishment" carried out by the IDF to, in its words, "send a message to terrorists and their accomplices that their actions have a price to be paid by all involved." Homes are also sometimes knocked down, the IDF says, to destroy the weapons-smuggling tunnels that sometimes run beneath them. Rights organizations criticize the practice because it harms innocents.

Last month, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency reported Israel's demolition campaign left 12,737 Palestinians homeless between September 2000 and April 30.

It is not clear what the driver of the bulldozer saw. The vehicles are armored and the windows small. An ISM volunteer who identified himself as Joe Smith said he had "a clear view of the action happening about 20 meters away."

"Wearing her fluorescent jacket, she sat down 15 meters in front of the bulldozer, and began waving her arms and shouting, just as activists had successfully done dozens of times that day.

"The bulldozer continued driving forward headed straight for Rachel. When it got so close that it was moving the earth beneath her, she climbed onto the pile of rubble being pushed by the bulldozer. Her head and upper torso were above the bulldozer's blade, and the bulldozer driver and co-operator could clearly see her. Despite this, he continued forward, which pulled her legs into the pile of rubble, and pulled her down out of view of the driver."

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