March 19, 2005
WHERE'S REVERSE GEAR, SHE'S STILL TWITCHING:
Activist's Parents Sue Caterpillar Inc.: Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003. Her family seeks damages from the Jewish state and the vehicle's maker. (Henry Weinstein and Laura King, March 20, 2005, LA Times)
In a two-pronged legal attack, the parents of a young American activist killed two years ago while trying to block the demolition of a home in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip have filed lawsuits in Seattle and Israel, seeking compensation for their daughter's death.The suit filed in Israeli District Court in Haifa last week seeks damages against the state of Israel, the Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces, whose bulldozer crushed Rachel Corrie to death.
The 23-year-old had taken time off from her studies at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., to protest the destruction of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle asserts that Caterpillar Inc. violated state and international law by selling specially designed bulldozers to the Israeli military knowing that they would be used to demolish homes and endanger civilians.
The lawsuit against Caterpillar asks for compensatory damages of at least $75,000, punitive damages and other relief. The lawsuit against the Israeli government asks for $324,000 in compensatory damages and possibly other damages that would "have a deterring and education effect."
Caterpillar should sue her estate for the damage done their reputation and the driver should sue for emotional distress (pretend there was some). Posted by Orrin Judd at March 19, 2005 11:51 PM
The US Government should call out some Caterpillars to bulldoze the Corries' house, those of their other children and their families, their lawyer and his family, and then Evergreen State University. Then plow everything in all of those places with salt, just to be on the safe side.
Posted by: bart at March 20, 2005 11:30 AMCaterpillar has a nice four-syllable cadance, just like Hailliburton, and is like the uber-demon of the left, both an American company and involved in roughly a tangential industry,which apparently is all it took for the left to seize on this, mix it in with some anti-Israel/anti-semitism and a bit of Bush Derangement Syndrome, to come up with the most pointless political attack ever in the history of Middle East protests. If the bulldozer had been made by Toyota, does anyone think the Corries and their supporters would have given a danm about what brand of construction vehicle plowed under their daughter?
Posted by: John at March 20, 2005 11:43 AMFrom the headline, I thought we had changed polarities on Mrs. Shiavo. Oh, I'm sorry: Miss Shiavo.
Posted by: ghostcat at March 20, 2005 2:10 PMThe Corries should be arrested by Israel when they show up for trial (as complicit in arms smuggling, which is what their daughter was protecting), and then deported to Gaza, to enjoy their days amidst the rubble.
The days when sympathy might have flowed towards them are gone. Rachel burned the flag on foreign soil and covered for death merchants. She made her choice.
Her parents should sue Arafat's estate, if they really want to get to the bottom of things.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 20, 2005 3:35 PMOJ:
I'm willing to sponsor a pancake breakfast as a fundraiser for Cat.
Posted by: Rick T. at March 20, 2005 4:25 PMIf successful, would this suit outlaw the international arms trade? After all, almost all of that equipment can be used to demolish houses and endanger civilians.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at March 22, 2005 9:54 AM