All language subtitles for Rachel 2009 Simone Bitton

I'm Dr. Ahmad Khalil Abu Nakira, diagnostic and intensive care specialist,

deputy director of Al-Najar Hospital.

I live in Shabura.

The US citizen had multiple fractures

in the limbs and neck.

She had bleeding from the mouth

and her lips were purple.

She exhibited
the symptoms suffocation.

We did all we could to save her,

but in vain.

Major Avital Leibovich...

You are the Israeli Defense Forces international spokesperson.

Thank you

for your time.

Were you an IDF spokesperson in March 2003?

Yes. I remember that case.

It received a lot of press.

Both Israeli and international media
covered it.

IDF SPOKESPERSON DOCUMENT

The lDF was operating in an area

known militarily the Philadelphi Route,

in the southern Gaza Strip,

near the Egyptian border.

In this area,

thousands of grenades had been thrown,

rockets were fired,

hundreds explosive devices were laid,

a threat to both our forces

and the settlers
still living in the Gaza Strip,

who were targets.

That's why we operated there.

We had two bulldozers

and an armored vehicle.

The mission was twofold:

first, to clear the ground,

and second,

to locate concealed explosive devices.

Soon after our forces arrived,

a group of activists
from an organization called ISM,

a group with a pro-Palestinian agenda,

founded by Palestinians,

came on the scene
to stage provocations.

Let me stress that the operation
did not entail house demolition.

It was just a piece of land.

They started provocative action.

Are you stressing that
because house demolitions are routine?

It's not an issue of "routine."

We conduct sorts of actions
to protect ourselves and our settlers.

From the removal vegetation

to the clearing of land,

to the demolition of a house
serving as an explosives lab.

All sorts of things,
depending on the situation.

In any case, our forces arrived,

and 30 minutes later,

so did this ISM group.

They blocked the bulldozers

and started yelling slogans.

Attempts were made to disperse them

with tear gas, to no avail.

We even had
to take a break from working.

Soon, the operation resumed,

and that's when the incident occurred.

A regrettable incident,

because we aren't interested

in killing anyone who is not a terrorist.

The investigation collected testimony

from soldiers and eyewitnesses.

There was an autopsy report,

and evidence was collected in the field.

After much work,
the investigation ended.

The findings were conclusive:

There was no direct contact
between the bulldozer and the deceased.

There was a pile of dirt,

and she was standing behind it,

The driver couldn't!see her.

From what we understood,

she was buried beneath dirt and sand.

My name is Dr. Samir Nasrallah.

I'm a pharmacist.

I live in Rafah,

in the Gaza Strip,

along the border
between Egypt and Palestine.

Returning from work,

I saw two tanks, 100 meters away,
and a bulldozer.

I saw Rachel Corrie and Alice

and I went inside.

The gate was here.

I opened the gate

and went in

The front yard of the house was here.

I went in,

I walked into the rooms...

and said hello my children.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I see Rachel and her friends outside."

They said, "Bulldozers and tanks
are destroying the land."

I said, "Let's have a cup of tea,"

and went to the window

to see what they were doing.

I saw Rachel and her friends,
trying to stop the bulldozer

with their bodies and arms.

When the bulldozer turned
towards my house and advanced,

I called to my brother
and his kids upsłairs.

"You'd better come sit down here,"
I told them.

The bulldozer kept on.

The driver could see her clearly.

He could see just fine.

There was nobody here but her

and me, just behind her.

I was behind the fence.
I saw everything, minute by minute.

Her four friends
were standing over there,

on the ruins of my neighbors' house.

I kept watching.

The bulldozer approached,

scooping up dirt,
which piled on her feet.

She lost her balance.

The machine advanced
with its blade above her, then reversed.

I ran, hoping the injury was minor.

I quickly took cotton, gauze

first-aid supplies.

Then I took my phone
and called my friends

at Al-Najar Hospital.

I told them, "We've got an emergency.

"The Jews have killed our friend Rachel Corrie."

My name is Muhammad Jamil Keshta.

I was born in Rafah in 1956.

Since my house was demolished,

I live in Al-Obour.

Before that, I lived in Rafah.

At the time, the situation was atrocious.

The Israelis destroyed houses

right over people's heads.

I lived near Salah al-Din Gate,

across from an Israeli outpost
called Termit.

We knew Rachel Corrie.

She was courageous,
with her Arafat-style keffiyeh.

She paid tor her ideals with her life.

All over the world,
they talk about me, Abu Jamil.

In their letters,
they mention Abu Jamil's specialities.

I cooked such dishes for them!

They were like children to me.

I cooked everything for her:
squash, lentils, beans,

peppers-and-eggs, potatoes!

It didn't cost me much.

Even if it had, they deserved it!

They're respectful and well-educated.

If people came

from America and Europe to protect you,

what would you offer them?
You'd give your eyes.

You'd sacrifice yourself,

go begging just to feed them
as they came to protect you.

In the middle of the night,
Rachel would take a megaphone:

"Stop shooting!

"Here in this house,
there are children and internationals!"

Without firing a single bullet!

How old are you?

Almost 25,

When were you in the army?

Between 2000 and 2003.

Where did you serve?

I was a tank gunner,

mostly stationed in Gaza,
Jericho, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Ramallah.

How long were you in Gaza?

A year and a half, all together.

Were you at the outpost facing Rafah?

Yes. I was there for six months.

- What's the ourpost called?
- Termit.

What's special about it?

It was manned by Bedouin soldiers.

To assist them, there were also

two or three tanks, when needed,

and some D9 bulldozers.

What were your assignments?

"Artichoke" ambushes every night,

and incursions inside the city

to "expose" houses,

or when armed men advanced toward us.

"Exposing houses" mean demolishing?"

Yes.

Did you demolish many?

I wasn't in a position to demolish.
I just shelled,

while the D9s demolished.

You fire at the house a little,
to see if anyone's home.

Then you start wrecking.

They either come out or they don't.

When I first got there,
the houses went right up to the wall.

When I left,
There was a clearing 800 meters wide.

When you say, "Fire a little,"

do you mean fire a lot?

Yes.

There was a period when we had orders

to shoot hourly, just to scare them.

So we'd shoot by the hour.

A house, a window, a water tank...

If the commander was laid back,

we could shoot houses for fun.

Did you shoot for fun?

Yes.

Shells?

No, Shells are for armed groups,

or vehicles with armed men,

not for fun.

You said you shot water tanks?

Yes. Because with the artichoke,

you can see the water is hot.

It looks good at night.

-What is this "artichoke"?
- The tank's night vision system.

When you shoot a water tank,
you see water pouring out.

It looks cool. That's why we did it.

You didn't think,
"This is precious drinking water"?

Never.

How can one not think of such things?

It's hard to explain.

It's unlike me.

I only understood it was wrong
after the army.

I can't be sure I won't do it again.

As a civilian, I'm a gentle person.

I can't explain it.

Did you kill people?

Yes.

Many?

Relatively, yes.

Were there innocent people
among them?

I'm certain there were.

I know there were many
who were terrorists,

but I also know
There was a woman and a child.

The rest, I'm less sure about.

-Are you religious, may I ask?
- Yes.

-Did you pray there?
- Yes.

Did you link your faith and actions?

Did you ever feel conflicted?

Never.

It was routine.

I am Captain B.K.,
Engineering Corps reservist,

a company commander.

This bulldozer is particularly large,

a D9 armored model.

It weighs some 65 tons,

which means it moves slowly
and is cumbersome.

It's not hard to maneuver,
but one's vision is restricted

by the armor required in this area.

The commander,
during the incident was A.

I forget his last name.

The operator's name is Y.F.

He is an honest, straightforward guy,

who obeys my orders
without disciplinary problems.

I have nothing to add.

This is my true and correct testimony,

as given to the MP investigator.

I hereby read and validate it
with my signature.

Shami Cohen,
you are an army reserve colonel.

Yes.

You headed the Military Police
investigations unit

-in March 2003.
- Correct.

That is, you oversaw
the Military Police investigation

into Rachel Corrie's death.

Correct.

First, There was an operational inquiry,

a debriefing
at which the soldiers are told,

"No harm can come to you
as a result of this inquiry."

Soldiers involved in an incident

are debriefed by their commanders.

They can tell them everything,

because what they say
cannot be used against them,

should a criminal investigation ensue.

As operational inquiries are Classified,
they are off-limits to military police.

As a military police investigator,

I cannot use the operational inquiry
as a source,

or cite any of its findings.

None of that is available to me.

If it fell into my hands,

it might disqualify my team
from investigating.

one must also understand
that for a police unit

whose duty is to gather evidence

admissible in a court of law,

time is of the essence.

That was one of our biggest problems.

When I reached the scene
of Rachel Corrie!s death

- may she rest in peace -
There was no tank, no bulldozers,

no corpse.

The site itself was inaccessible.

The medical team who had treated her
was gone.

There were no bullets, nothing.

From a legal viewpoint,
the site had been compromised.

Going there was next to useless.

All I had to work with

was soldiers' statements
obtained during questioning.

The questioning became everything.

Now, let's imagine a situation
which is rare,

but does happen:

The soldiers maintain their silence.

This one covers for that one,
who covers for the other one...

They all cover for each other.

The only investigative tool I have
is questioning.

Investigators are told

to go out and find the truth,

discover who's guilty,

but the only means they're given
is questioning.

What about Rachels friends?

Some of them testified,

but not all.

The Palestinians

were nearly impossible to track down.

It required military coordination,
because it's a warzone.

The IDF shoots and gets shot at.

It's a war zone.

No, we did not question
all the witnesses to the incident.

I am Major S.R.,

deputy commander

of the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion.

On the afternoon
of March 16, 2003,

I ordered the flattening
of the Philadelphi Route

along the exposed area,

from Philadelphi 21 to 23.

I am Sergeant S.L.

I have been a reservist
since February 23, 2003,

as a D9 bulldozer operator.

On March 16, 2003,
we were given a briefing

by the company commander.

My bulldozer commander,

a reservist named S.A, myself,

and a second D9 bulldozer team,

commander E.V. and operator Y.F,
were present.

There was also another officer
and two active duty soldiers.

The armoured vehicle commander
was Captain R.S.

He oversaw forces on the ground.

At the time, I was at the Liaison HQ,

as the senior officer in the sector.

As they worked,

a group of foreign activists
came to harass them.

They've been here for three months,

disturbing us
whenever we go on a mission.

They enter the suspect's home

and try to prevent the demolition
by any means possible.

They kept running around the bulldozers

on the sides, in front, in the rear.

This went on for four hours.

At around 4:30 PM,

I was operatįng my bulldozer
about 20 meters north of Y.F.

I saw all the civilian peace activists
running towards his bulldozer

and heard a radio order to stop working.

I looked at the other bulldozer

and saw a mound of dirt two meters high

and 4 or 5 meters wide,

made by the bulldozer.

on the eastern side of the mound,

I saw a girl in her twenties
lying on the ground.

I didn't see
if she was injured or dead.

But she was in one piece.
I'm not at all sure she was dead.

I don't know her, or know who she is.

I did not learn of her death
from a medical report,

only from the media.

From what I know of Y.F.,

he's a careful operator.

Since the incident, he's been distraught.

He's sensitive, a family man.

He'd never have hit her deliberately.
I don't think the bulldozer hit her.

The civilian Rachel Corrie
- may she rest in peace -

probably hid behind the dirt mound.

She thought the D9 would stop
when the operator saw her.

She intentionally lay
at the foot of the mound.

Even if we wanted to see her,
we couldn't have.

I have nothing to add.

This is my true and correct testimony,

as given to the MP investigator.

I hereby read and validate it
with my signature.

The border was full of tanks.

Everytime we went out,
they fired at us.

When the foreigners arrived,
I was old,

"These people are peace activists.

Do you want one at your place?"
I said, "Give me two or three."

In the first group,
we got an Englishman named Ben,

a psychiatrist.

Then we got a Jew named David,

also an Englishman.

I hosted them.

Then they brought some girls.
Two girls, then some others.

After a wile, they were saying,

"We want to stay with Abu Ahmad!"

Themselves!

They were here
for breakfast and dinner.

All day, they did actions.

I'd give them sandwiches,

one or two apiece...

God bless them!

At dusk, they'd say,
"We want to sleep at Abu Ahmad's."

They loved us and I loved them.

They had come to help us.

They weren't here to kill us,

but to resist the fire alongside us.

I remember Rachel

the day she died.

They phoned her, and she came.

I invited her to come in.

"No, Abu Ahmad."

She wore a scarf like this one.

She went to confront them.

I never saw her again.

I told her, "Stay here!"

"Rachel, it's dangerous! Don't go!"

She replied, "No, I'm going."

I couldn't hold her back.

It was her destiny.

GHASSAN ANDONI
ISM founder

The witnesses I met are convinced

that he saw her and didn't stop.

If you gathered their testimonies,
they contradict the soldiers.

We gathered some.

How do you resolve it?

This contradiction

arose in the investigation,

because all the civilians we questioned
claimed, as you just stated,

that it was impossible
for him not to see her.

But the soldiers said the opposite.

Visibility from the bulldozer cab
is severely impaired.

The driver's field of vision
is exłremely limited.

The cab sits very high,

and the windows
are just narrow look-out slits.

So, they say they couldn't see her.

All the versions of the events

were given
to the Military Advocate General.

It is his duty to determine
whether there was criminal intent

and sufficient evidence

to prosecute the soldiers
in a court martial.

In this case,

he decided there was no criminal intent,

despite contradictory accounts.

Versions never agree:

The victims and perpetrators

usually contradict each other,
and one must choose.

How do you choose?

Based on evidence from the scene,

but we never made it there!

If you'd been asked
to add recommendations

to the investigative report you submitted,

what would they be?

Difficult question.

On the one hand, it's troubling

that a civilian was killed.

on the other, these soldiers

were fighting for their lives

whenever they were in this zone.

Under the circumstances,
I wouldn't amend my decision.

I really don't think so.

Had my investigators arrived

just after the incident,

when the bulldozer

and Rachel Corrie's body remained,

I might have reached
a different conclusion.

APRIL 1, 2003

ISRAELI CHANNEL 2 DOCUMENT

A D9 is manned by two people.

Like a pilot and navigator?

You could say that.

Each sees a different area?

Yes.

When you ride with your helmets on,

can you hear anything?

No, you can't hear anything

happening outside.

I'd never seen these foreigners.

I thought they were

Palestinians in disguise.

They looked Palestinian to you?

There are white Palestinians, too.

I wouldn't expect to see anyone

besides Palestinians here.

So I made my Assumption.

Then, via radio,

I was told they were foreigners,

from some organization.

The tractor moves at walking speed.

Even slower.

With a mound of dirt,

It can't go any faster.

We were pushing dirt,

and suddenly we saw people

waving their arms.

I understood something had happened.

So I told him, "Stop.

"Back up."

We lowered the blade

because it obstructed our view.

With the blade lowered,

we saw the body.

But we were already far.

Thirty or forty meters, maybe.

I didn't count.

When I saw her,

I realized we had hit someone.

And then?

We moved further back.

We backed up...

We parked on the Route.

I awaited orders.

We felt awful.

It shouldn't have happened.

How could it have been avoided?

If you ask us...

Drive away and not work there.

But we had orders.

We have to do what we're told.

It's a huge, heavy machine.

If I had run over a person,

there'd be nothing left.

They wouldn't even have found her.

Not even pieces.

So I don't think I ran over her.

It's very heavy equipment.

30 for D9-2!

D9-2, 30!

D9, HQ!

I hit someone.

Where are you, HQ?

Roger. Over.

Roger,
It seems something fell on someone.

He was too close to the D9

and got a little hurt.

- One of the foreigners?
-Positive.

Roger. Has he been evacuated?

Positive. It's underway.

Do you know what fell on him?

A stone, apparently. We're checking.

Roger. A stone fell from the D9?

Positive.

Roger.

Apparently, someone was hit by the D9

and is in critical condition.

Roger. Hit by the D9,
or something that fell on him?

He must have come up behind the D9

and into its path.

Roger.

D9-1, move back to the Route.

Roger.

Have you seen him?

Yes. I think he's dead.

Dead?

God have mercy on him.

I am the Chief Forensic Pathologist.

When Rachel died,

I was the director of this center,

and I performed the autopsy.

The report on the circumstances
was brief and imprecise,

saying she might have been hit
by a tractor.

So we looked tor mechanical damage

that would indicate injury by a tractor.

We found minor damage to her body,

head, arms, legs, and chest.

But all of it was relatively minor.

No signs of having been run over
by a tractor.

She had other signs
like bleeding from the eyes,

characteristic of death by suffocation.

These findings led me to the conclusion

that her death was due to pressure
from a heavy object.

The heavy object
must have been the blade...

It could have been, but usually
we find that a tractor blade,

a metal object,

leaves tell tale marks
on the body of the victim.

In this case,

whatever exerted pressure on her
was softer than metal.

I cannot rule out the blade
as a possibility.

However, it so, a layer of sand
between her body and the blade

must have absorbed some
of the impact of the blade or tractor.

Her parents told me

they refused to allow an autopsy
to be performed

unless a US official was present.

True. They wrote a letter

requesting American diplomatic presence.

I contacted the US Embassy,
as noted in my autopsy report.

But the Embassy did not see fit
to send a representative.

I fully agree

that the autopsy authorization
filed by Rachel's parents

demanded American diplomatic presence.

We have nothing to hide.

We prefer that the family be represented.

But when the Embassy informed me
that they weren't interested,

or that the presence was unneeded,
we proceeded with the autopsy.

I am Colonel P.Z.,

Chief-Commander of the
Gaza Division Southern Brigade.

The Military Police asked me

to comment on the death
of the US citizen Corrie, Rachel

on March 16, 2003

near Philadelphi Route point 23.

Here are my remarks:

The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion
was doing land grading work

to reduce the capacity
of terrorist organizations

to lay explosives in piles of dirt
and construction debris there.

Our forces began working at around 1 PM.

They were continually harassed
by activists from leftist groups.

Several times, they backed off

and tried to disperse them by loudspeaker

and various crowd control methods.

All these attempts were in vain.

There was blatant disrespect for
and indifference to the soldiers.

Soldiers and commanders complied fully
with regulations and orders.

This incident was caused
by the protesters' reckless behavior.

Moreover, I must praise the forces
for their restraint that day.

I have nothing to add.

This is my true and correct testimony.

I hereby validate it with my signature.

My name is Yonatan Polak.

I lived here in Jaffa, 2002-'06.

This is where I was living
when the bulldozer killed Rachel.

ISM activists sometimes slept here.

I'm also active with them.

In 2003,
after the bulldozer killed Rachel,

some of her friends came here.

Three at first; then a fourth.

They stayed a few days.

They needed a safe haven to recover.

They were traumatized.

My grandparents were Communists.

My grandfather was jailed in the 1950s.

I attended my first protest rally
when I was two months old!

Against the massacres
at Sabra and Shatila.

The first protest I remember
was at the start of the first Intifiada.

The main thing I remember

was the mounted police who were sent in

to disperse us.

I was twelve then,
and have been an activist ever since.

I go to demonstrations
and engage in direct action

like blocking bulldozers,

damaging the wall,

sabotaging occupation infrastructure.

Crossing the lines,

joining the resistance,
not just speaking out but...

taking action,

I don't think I could live here,

regardless of the prospects for victory,

without sharing in the resistance.

Here or anywhere else in the world,

I have a duty to resist things

that I consider

to be responsible
for the poor state of the world.

Maybe it's the difference
between our generations.

Can one resist without hope?

Yes.

It's possible to resist without hope

but also without despair.

Resistance is life.

Resistance is...

a kind of truth. A kind of...

passion, desire...

Words that translate poorly into Hebrew.

I believe that in revolt...

there is great truth,

whether or not it succeeds.

The people who fought
in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

had no hope of winning.

But I understand why they did it.

I can see them doing it.