Tag: Tear-Gas Canister

Following night raids, Nabi Saleh continues to march for justice

by Aida Gerard

25 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The Occupation Forces invaded An Nabi Saleh village three times injuring several people by shooting directly at demonstrators with tear gas canisters and rubber coated steel bullets on Friday, November 25th.

Three people were arrested Wednesday in a night time raid earlier in the week. Rami Tamimi, 33, Uday Tamimi, 20, and Muatasim Tamimi, 16 years old were all taken away. The Israeli military justified the arrest Uday and Muatasim because they will be used as witnesses against Bassem Tamimi in his court hearing next week. Bassem Tamimi  is one of the local members of the Popular Committee who was arrested in Spring, 2011. The main evidence in Bassem’s case is the testimony from a 14 year old boy, which was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law. The same mistreatment was used against Muatasim who was arrested Wednesday night in order for him to testify against Bassem.

Bassem Tamimi has a long history of being targeted by the Occupation. He has been arrested  by the Israeli army 11 times to date, though he was never convicted of any offense. Bassem Tamimi has spent around three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. After popular demonstrations began in An Nabi Saleh 10 houses have gotten demolition orders, including the home of Bassem. Bassem’s wife, Nariman Tamimi, has been arrested twice, whiles two of his young sons have been critical injured.

In the last court proceeding against Bassem, he gave a statement dening the unlawful charges against him but proudly admitting to organizing demonstranstions in An Nabi Saleh and stuggeling against the Occupation.

On Friday, soon after the noon prayer demonstrators gathered near the mosque of An Nabi Saleh, where one of the local coordinators gave a small speech about solidarity with the struggle in Jerusalem and also about the negotiations and agreements between Hamas and Fatah. He emphasized the importance of the leaderships’ focus on the resistance and support of it as well. In the end he talked about the night raids of An Nabi Saleh and arrests of youth and minors in connection to the arrest of three people from An Nabi Saleh Wednesday night.

Demonstration in Nabi Saleh
Demonstration in Nabi Saleh – Click here for more images

The demonstration proceeded towards the entrance of the village and was met by skunk water and tear gas canisters shot directly at demonstrators. When the Occupation Forces withdrew to the entrance of the village, demonstrators closed the roads and prevented the military jeeps from entering the village, going towards the mountain in front of the water resource that the illegal settlement Halamish attempts to annex.

The Occupation Forces had invaded the mountain and threatened the demonstrators with the words, “If you come near we will shoot you,” but demonstrators were steadfast and managed to make the Occupation Forces withdraw by walking in between them.

Meanwhile the Occupation Forces invaded An Nabi Saleh village, shooting tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and spraying demonstrators and houses with foul-smelling water.

In the end the Occupation Forces withdrew all units to the entrance of the village, and demonstrators ended the demonstration with a small gathering.

Aida Gerard is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Proceedings in US national’s civil suit over West Bank injury to begin

13 November 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

UPDATE: The opening court date has been postponed from 17 November to 24 November 2011.

Tristan Anderson, a US National, suffered a life-threatening injury after being shot in the head with a high velocity tear-gas projectile during an anti-Wall demonstration on March 13th, 2009.

On 13 March 2009, Israeli Border Police officers shot US activist from California, Tristan Anderson, in the head with a high velocity tear-gas projectile during a demonstration in the West Bank Village of Ni’ilin. He was shot from a distance of about 40 meters away, at a time when no clashes or protesters were in his immediate vicinity. As a result of the shooting, Anderson suffered serious brain damage and the loss of his eye, as well as being paralyzed on half of his body. His injuries prevent him from functioning as an independent adult. A criminal investigation into the incident by the Israeli police is still pending.

Proceedings in the Anderson family’s civil suit against the State of Israel will begin on Thursday at the Jerusalem District Court in Jerusalem. The suit was filed by attorney Ghada Hleihil of the Lea Tsemel Law Office to demand reparations for the unjustified shooting and for damages incurred by Anderson and his loved ones.

The opening hearing will include the testimony of Gabrielle Silverman, Anderson’s partner. Silverman was standing near Anderson when he was shot. She was also inside the ambulance that evacuated Anderson from the scene, which was stopped by the army for long minutes at the Ni’ilin checkpoint despite the clear indications that Anderson was in critical condition with a life threatening head injury.

Proceedings are scheduled to continue on Nov 24th, Nov 27th and Dec 18th.

Background
On 13 March 2009, Israeli Border Police officers shot the US activist from California, Tristan Anderson, in the head with a high velocity tear-gas projectile during a demonstration in the West Bank Village of Ni’ilin. Anderson, 38 at the time, was rushed to the Tel Hashomer hospital in Israel, where he underwent several life-saving surgeries on his brain and eye. Despite many operations, Tristan suffered serious brain damage and the loss of his eye.

Anderson was shot from a distance of about 40 meters, despite the fact that no clashes or protesters were in his immediate vicinity at the time as many protesters had already returned to their homes.

At a press conference following Anderson’s hospitalization in March, his parents, Mike and Nancy Anderson expressed shock at the shooting of their son, and their hope that Israel would take responsibility for its forces’ actions.

In August 2009 before Israel’s investigation was made public, the Israeli Ministry of Defense notified the Anderson’s lawyers that Israel perceives the incident on 13 March 2009 as an “act of war”. This classification was made despite the fact that Anderson’s shooting occurred during a civilian demonstration and that there were no armed hostilities during the event or surrounding it. The consequence of such classification is that according to Israeli law, the state of Israel is not liable for any damage its’ forces have caused, even if unjustified.

Michael Sfard, the attorney representing the family in the criminal proceedings, stated: “If an unarmed civilian demonstration is classified by Israel as an ‘act of war’, then clearly Israel admits that it is at war with civilians. International law identifies the incident as a clear case of human rights abuse.”

Following the conclusion of the Israeli investigation and the decision to close the case without filing any indictments on the grounds of “lack of wrongdoing” in March 2010, the Anderson family filed an appeal. A thorough examination of the police’s case file by Attorney Sfard revealed that the police failed to visit the scene of the shooting, questioned officers who had nothing to do with the case and failed to question the Border Police unit in the area from where Tristan was shot according to all civilian eyewitnesses. Following an appeal pointing to grave negligence in conducting the investigation, the District Attorney ordered that the investigation into the shooting be reopened. Tristan Anderson and his family returned to the United States in June, following over a year in the hospital. Currently residing in California, the shooting has left Anderson suffering cognitive damage, paralyzed on the left side and requiring 24 hours care.

Israeli forces began using high velocity tear-gas projectiles and 0.22 caliber live ammunition at West Bank demonstrations in December 2008, in parallel with Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. High-velocity tear-gas projectiles, like the one that was shot at Tristan Anderson are a product of the US company, Combined Systems Inc (CSI). A similar projectile caused the mortal injury of Bassem Abu Rahmah in the village of Bil’in on April 17th, 2009 – only a month after Anderson’s shooting. The projectile and its misuse by Israeli forces have been highlighted by the Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, which caused the Judge Advocate General (JAG) to order that the Army investigate their misuse on several occasions. Eventually the use of the projectile by the Army was banned in the West Bank. According to a CSI subsidiary company’s website, the projectiles, with a velocity of 400 ft/sec (130m/sec), are not meant for use in open-air crowd control situations, but rather as indoor barricade penetrators.

As B’TSelem documents shooting of man, employee is arrested

by Aida Gerard

11 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

A 55 year old Palestinian man was taken to hospital from Nabi Saleh due to an injury from a rubber coated steel bullet.  After two hours of demonstrating the Israeli Occupation Forces invaded Nabi Saleh and arrested one Palestinian, 36 year old Bilal Tamimi, who works for B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization.

Nabi Saleh tends to its injured – Click here for more images

The demonstration in Nabi Saleh began with the commemoration of Yassir Arafats death seven years ago. A big poster with Arafat was carried in the front of the demonstration and the chanting honored the former leader of Palestine. When the demonstrators reached the outskirts of the village they were met by a truck shooting skunk water while  the Israeli Occupation forces shot gas directly at the demonstrators.

After half an hour the Occupation Forces withdrew to the entrance of the village, where they closed the entrance gate with the intention of making the demonstrators reach the open field in front of the military. The demonstrators decided to change direction instead of letting the Occupation Forces decide where the villagers should demonstrate. They went to the direction of the water spring near the illegal Halamish (Neve Zuf) settlement.The Occupation Forces met the demonstrators with a significant amount of gas and rubber coated steel bullets. One man from Nabi Saleh was shot at directly from a distance of 30 meters in his face with a rubber coated steel bullet and was carried to the village. While he was being carried to the village the Occupation Forces came towards the injured and the young boys who carried him, fleeing as the women and internationals carried the injured man to the village. The 55 year old man was taken to the hospital and got three stitches over the right eye and a broken nose. Several young boys were injured at the same time with rubber coated steel bullets and by teargas canisters.

Afterwards the Occupation Forces invaded Nabi Saleh and arrested Bilal Tamimi, a 55 old Palestinian who works for B’Tselem. They arrested him while he was documenting the crimes of the Occupation Forces in his village. An Israeli Btselem worker who also participated in the demonstration said that B’Tselem assumed that Bilal was taken to the nearby military camp in the illegal Halamish (Neve Zuf) settlement, located opposite of Nabi Saleh. He was released later in the evening.

The Occupation Forces occupied two houses in Nabi Saleh and placed the skunk water truck and three jeeps at the crossroad in the village, leaving the demonstrators hiding for a couple of hours in order to avoid arrest and getting their houses sprayed with the skunk water. Several times the military tried making surprise attacks to arrest demonstrators but they did not succeed. The demonstration ended at sunset, greeting the military jeeps with a rain of stones when they finally left the village.

Aida Gerard is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name changed).

Kufr Qaddoum: In the footsteps of an unwarranted arrest

12 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Following the first barrage of tear gas during November 11th’s peaceful demonstration in Kufr Qaddoum , some Israeli soldiers began to make their way into the village. The soldiers picked up one villager, 30 year old Hazzem Barham, who was lying down unconscious from the tear gas and arrested him; carrying him into their jeep. Minutes later, after documenting the arrest of Barham, soldiers targeted an activist from the United States, handcuffed him and took him into a second jeep. Whilst arrested, soldiers took turns beating him, presumably for his solidarity with the non-violent Palestinian resistance.

19 weeks strong: Kufr Qaddoum marches forward despite heavy tear gas and bullets

by Rana H.

5 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The Israeli army assaulted peaceful protesters in Kufr Qaddoum with tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets, and sound bombs, injuring two and causing severe tear gas suffocation for three families, including five children, and two protesters, including an International Solidarity Movement activist.

Approximately 250 protesters were present, including children, and international and Israeli activists.

One Palestinian broke his foot when a high-velocity tear gas canister hit him, and is currently being transferred to Jordan for special treatment. Another protester was injured when a tear gas canister hit him in the hand. Three families were forced to evacuate their homes when soldiers fired tear gas in between their homes. Five children were witnessed crying and running out of their homes and away from the approaching soldiers. Two protesters were treated with oxygen after severe tear gas inhalation, including a female ISM activist who fell unconscious.

Children lead the protest holding posters praising Mahmoud Abbas and UNESCO, calling Avigdor Lieberman a “racist” and “terrorist.” As the march progressed to where soldiers were stationed, most of the children dispersed and protesters stopped in front of the barbed wire marking, closing the street about 15 metres from the soldiers. The Israeli commander approached and spoke to some of the Palestinians, attempting to set rules but demonstrators refused to recognize these rules without Israel first acknowledging that the road is their legal right to use.

Soon after, soldiers fired several rounds of tear gas. They continued to shoot tear gas in bunches for the next hour. For the first hour, the progression kept returning after each round of gas. The soldiers then began to advance on the road into the village. They began to fire rubber coated steel bullets and sound bombs as well as tear gas. At this point the three families evacuated their homes.

Protesters continued to come back at them despite the dangerous situation, and eventually the soldiers left the street and the demonstration ended.

The Palestinian-led demonstration has occurred weekly in Kufr Qaddoum for the past 19 weeks. The village was involved in a legal battle for six years concerning the closure of their main road because it runs parallel to the illegal Israeli settlement of Qadumim. During this time there were no protests. The Israeli court finally ruled in their favour, but the road was then closed because it is not “suitable” or “safe” for travel. 5 months ago the protests resumed. Since the road has been closed, Kufr Qaddoum residents must take an indirect road to reach Nablus, which increases transportation from 15 minutes to 40 minutes. This increase has resulted in hardships, particularly because there is no hospital in the village and residents must drive to Nablus for care, and due to the increased price of transport for the many students who study in Nablus.

Rana H. is an activist with International Solidarity Movement.