Israeli court rejects Corrie parents' lawsuit

JERUSALEM — An Israeli court has rejected a lawsuit brought against the military by the Olympia, Wash., parents of a U.S. activist crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer as she tried to block its path in the Gaza Strip.

The bulldozer driver has said he didn't see 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, a pro-Palestinian activist who opposed the military's demolition of Palestinian homes.

The military deemed her March 2003 death to be accidental, but Corrie's parents were not satisfied by the army investigation and filed a civil lawsuit against the military two years later.

On Tuesday, an Israeli civilian court rejected the Corries' request for a symbolic $1 in damages and legal expenses.

Corrie, who was a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, has become a symbol of what Palestinian activists say is Israel's harsh repression of nonviolent protests to occupation.

By The Associated Press