Ramallah, 12-07-07: A request by the Corrie family to reopen legal proceedings against Caterpillar Inc., the manufacturer of the bulldozer that crushed their daughter Rachel to death in the Gaza Strip in March 2003, has once again brought the issue of holding international corporations liable for aiding and abetting Israeli human rights violations back into the media spotlight.
Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist, came to the Gaza Strip in January 2003 as part of the International Solidarity Movement. She was crushed to death by an Israeli military Caterpillar D9 bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home in Rafah. While the driver claimed not to have seen her, photographic evidence showed Corrie wearing a reflective vest and shouting to the driver through a megaphone before he firstly drove over her, and then reversed over her broken body.
Corrie‘s family first launched the lawsuit against Caterpillar Inc. in 2005 for aiding and abetting human rights violations and war crimes committed by the Israeli military, by providing the bulldozers used to demolish Palestinian homes in violation of international law when it knew that such bulldozers were being used to commit human rights abuses.
The lawsuit alleged that Caterpillar, Inc. had been fully aware that the bulldozers it was supplying were being used to commit crimes in violation of international law since at least 2001, when human rights groups and concerned US citizens began notifying Caterpillar that it was aiding and abetting violations of international law by providing the Israeli military with the bulldozers used to destroy homes. Despite this, it continued to supply bulldozers and essential parts to the Israeli military choosing financial gain over respect for human rights.
The case was dismissed in 2005 however when a US judge agreed with the company‘s argument that it was not responsible for how the Israeli military used its product.
The call to reopen the case comes in the context of recent decisions by major British trade unions to support an economic, cultural, academic and sporting boycott of Israel, and a repeated request by the Dutch government to halt the sale of cranes by Dutch company Riwal to the Israeli military for use in the construction of Israel‘s Apartheid Wall.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, Palestinian National Initiative General Secretary expressed his support to the Corrie family in their tireless efforts to seek justice not only in memory of their courageous daughter, but for Palestinian victims of Israeli human rights violations. He added that such kinds of international solidarity activities and sanctions that forced an end to the Apartheid regime in South Africa were one of the only ways which would oblige Israel to end its 40-year-old Occupation.
The PNI has consistently called for military non-cooperation with, and divestment from Israel, and the rallying of international solidarity as effective means to push for an end to the Occupation.