US Court throws out case against Caterpillar by family of slain volunteer

Thursday October 25, 2007 07:07 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC

Rachel Corrie was killed by Israeli forces over four years ago while working in Gaza as a peaceworker with the International Solidarity Movement. Her family filed a lawsuit in US court against the American company which built the Caterpillar-brand bulldozer that killed Corrie, but that lawsuit has now been dismissed by a Judge in the US Court of Appeals.

Caterpillar brand D9 armored bulldozer

The parents of Rachel Corrie, along with a number of Palestinian plaintiffs who each have a family member killed by a Caterpillar-brand bulldozer, have filed a motion for re-hearing. If the court refuses to re-hear the case, the plaintiffs will go to the Supreme Court.

According to the Judge, the case was thrown out because it involved the U.S. government, and that because of that, the Court had no jurisdiction. But the lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that there was not enough evidence that the U.S. government was actually involved in the transaction in question. They added that the only evidence on which the court based their claim was an affidavit from a separate hearing that asserted US government involvement in the sale of bulldozers to the Israeli military.

Cindy Corrie, the mother of the late Rachel Corrie, stated after the ruling, “In our view and in our lawyers' view, there was not enough information at this early stage for the court to truly determine the level of involvement of the US government in the sales. Also, we and our lawyers believe that it has historically been the role of the courts to hear claims for injuries caused by human rights violations, especially where an American company has aided and abetted those violations.”

According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the plaintiffs in the suit are the following:

Al Sho'bi family: Mahmoud Omar Al Sho'bi is from Nablus in the West Bank. In April 2002, a D9 bulldozer destroyed Mr. Al Sho'bi's family home without warning in an Israeli military attack in the middle of the night. His father Umar, his sisters Fatima and Abir, his brother Samir and pregnant sister-in-law Nabila, and their three children, ages 4, 7, and 9, were all killed. After the Al Sho'bi family home was demolished, the Israeli military kept the area under strict curfew for days, denying access to rescue workers, and it was not until a week later that the families' bodies were found under the rubble of the house by relatives and neighbors.

Fayed family: Fathiya Muhammad Sulayman Fayed's home was bulldozed during an Israeli military incursion into the Jenin Refugee Camp in 2002. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed allegedly to clear paths for Israeli military's tanks. During the demolition, her son, Jamal, who was paralyzed, needed assistance to get out of the house. While the Israeli military initially stopped bulldozing so Fathiya could help Jamal, they resumed demolition. Fathiya escaped, but Jamal could not and was killed.

Abu Hussein family: A D9 bulldozer demolished the Abu Hussein home in the al-Salam neighborhood of Rafah in 2002. The destruction began without warning at 5:00 a.m., physically injuring six family members inside. After being warned, the Israeli military halted active demolition, but fired on neighbors or relatives trying to evacuate those in the house. The family was eventually rescued.

Corrie Family: On March 16, 2003, Rachel Corrie, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, was killed by a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer in Rafah, Gaza, Palestine. Rachel was attempting to prevent the home of a local pharmacist from being demolished while the family was still inside. Despite being in plain view and wearing a florescent orange vest, Rachel was crushed to death when the bulldozer drove over her.

Khalafallah family: In a July 2004 incursion into Khan Yunis Refugee Camp, the Israeli military demolished over 70 homes. At midnight, a bulldozer approached the home of Ibrahim Khalafallah and his wife Eida, where they lived with their 5 children, 2 daughters-in-law, and 4 grandchildren. Ibrahim, in his 70s and sick, was unable to move. When the bulldozer hit the house, Eida tried to stop the driver, but he continued, destroying the home and killing Ibrahim.

Just before the judge ruled to dismiss the case, another young man was killed by a Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza. 19-year-old Mahmoud Kayid Al Kfafi had his head ripped in half by the blade of a D9 armored Caterpillar bulldozer in September. According to eyewitnesses, Al Kfafi had taken refuge behind an olive tree to escape the gunfire being shot from Israeli military tanks at stone throwers. The Caterpillar bulldozer hit Al Kfafi in the head with its blade, killing him immediately.

The Corrie family have vowed to continue the struggle until Caterpillar stops shipping armored bulldozers to the Israeli military for use against Palestinian civilians.

international | human rights | news report saed at imemc dot org