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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Activism Home page  back Print  Send To friend US family seeks Israeli damages By Agencies Al Jazeera 10 March 2010 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/201031042646747585.html Rachel Corrie, whose family is suing for $324,000, was one of several foreign activists killed in confrontations with Israel in occupied territory in the past decade. She was nonviolently protesting against Palestinian home demolitions. The court proceedings on Wednesday are likely to stoke controversy over Israel`s treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters. The Israeli army says Corrie, 23, a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, was fatally hit by a concrete slab on March 16, 2003, as a bulldozer cleared a hideout for Palestinian fighters in the Gaza area. The Israeli government failed to conduct a thorough investigation into Corrie`s killing and her family, advised by the US state department, then filed a private lawsuit five years ago. Witness accounts Corrie`s family, citing witness accounts, has charged the Israeli driver must have spotted her before moving the blade in her direction. But Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibovich, an Israeli army spokeswoman, told the Reuters news agency in an interview that `the crew inside the bulldozer did not see her nor hear her`. She said tear gas and stun grenades had been fired to warn protesters to flee. Cindy Corrie, the victim`s mother, said in a statement: `As we approach the seven-year anniversary of Rachel`s killing, my family and I are still searching for justice.` According to the family, the aim of the trial is not to get compensation but to find out the circumstances behind Rachel`s death and hold the Israeli military responsible. Two former activists in Gaza are to testify in the case. Israelis have shown little sympathy for Corrie, whose death occurred at the height of a Palestinian uprising in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank in which thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis were killed. The case is expected to fuel anger in a nation facing accusations by a UN report that its army and Palestinian fighters committed war crimes during the 2008-9 Israel-Gaza conflict. Steven Plaut, an Israeli from Haifa, charged in a column for the Jewish Press newspaper that Corrie`s parents were a `two-person anti-Israel propaganda SWAT team` who supported Israel`s enemies. id Links to the latest articles in this section Refusing the war! Demonstration today, Thur. Apris 24, at 7.30 pm, Habima Square, Tel Aviv Refusing the war! Demonstration today, Thur. Apris 24, at 7.30 pm, Habima Square, Tel Aviv Saturday night protests: No to Netanyahu`s war!