Court Rejects Corrie Family's Law Suit Against the Israeli Defense Ministry

This was a no-brainer:

A Haifa court ruled Tuesday morning that Rachel Corrie caused her own death by intentionally remaining in front of an IDF bulldozer. Her lawyer said he will appeal the decision.

Judge Oded Gershon supported the IDF claim that the driver of the bulldozer could not see Corrie, who was protesting the 2003 demolition of homes in Rafiah, Gaza, which were being used by terrorists.

The court noted that the case of Corrie is sad but that the young woman, who was 23 years old, was fully aware that she was in danger and that she could have prevented her own death by moving out of the path of the bulldozer.

An article at ynetnews has some more details:

"I reject the suit," the judge said. "There is no justification to demand the state pay any damages."

He added that the soldiers had done their utmost to keep people away from the site. "She (Corrie) did not distance herself from the area, as any thinking person would have done."

He rejected a claim of negligence explaining that the bulldozer's driver had limited vision unlike Corrie. "She consciously put herself in harm's way," Gershon said. The accident had been self inflicted, he added.

In a 162-verdict, the Judge Gershon pointed to three entry bans and noted that the Philadelphi route had effectively been a war zone formally declared a closed military zone at the time of the accident. He mentioned that the US had issued an Israel travel advisory warning its citizens to avoid Gaza and the West Bank.

The judge added that the organization where Corrie worked "abuses the human rights discourse to blur its actions which are de facto violence. He claimed that it specialized in disrupting IDF activity. "This included an army of activists serving as 'human shields' for terrorists wanted by Israeli security forces, financial and logistical aid to Palestinians including terrorists and their families, and disruption of the sealing of suicide bombers' houses."

Judge Gershon also rejected the Corrie family's claims that Military Police had not done its best to investigate the incident.

Like I wrote, this is a no-brainer.

Update: Jerusalem Diaries has a translation of the court's decision.

Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner Relieved of Command Duties

I think that Chief of Staff Gantz has made a major error here:

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has decided to remove Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner from his comman position following the media storm over an edited video showing him using force to restrain a protester.

Lt. Col. Eisner will not be allowed to perform any duties as a commander for two years. Military sources told Arutz Sheva that Lt. Gen. Gantz made his decision after consulting with the Central Command and the Ground Forces commander.

The IDF did not eject him from the armed forces, and his rank was not changed.

Lt. Col. Eisner was the commander of the Jordan Valley Battalion and was caught on film by International Solidarity Movement activists, who blocked the only highway linking the southern and northern communities near Israel’s border.

He shoved his rifle butt in the face of a Danish activist who had broken Eisner's finger while the activist was beating him with a stick during a two-hour confrontation, which the ISM video did not show.

Lt. Gen. Gantz’s decision was a foregone conclusion given the unprecedented media outrage over the incident, which quickly erupted into a broadside even before a thorough investigation had begun.

Does Gantz realize how much encouragement he has given to the terror supporters? Does he realize how he has demoralized his troops?

Now Shalom Eisner will have more time to learn Torah. Good for him!

Thank You Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner

Thank you Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner for years of service in the IDF.

Thank you Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner for for protecting me, my family and the rest of the country.

And thank you Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner for giving the ISM trouble maker what he deserved!

Kol HaKavod!!!

Update: Petition for to support Eisner here.

ISM Activists Help Arabs Uproot Israeli Vineyard

(IsraelNN.com:)

12 Arabs who were arrested on Monday for allegedly uprooting 3,000 vines from a Jewish vineyard near Neria last week have confessed to the crime, police said Monday night. Police did not say what evidence led them to arrest the Arabs.

Three British women were arrested over the weekend for participating in the same crime. The women were volunteers with the militantly anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement, a group that brings foreign leftists to Arab cities in Judea and Samaria in hopes that the leftists’ foreign citizenship will allow them to assist local Arab anti-Israel groups with impunity.

See also this post at Israel Matzav and this post at Smooth Stone.