Tag: Tear-Gas Canister

Israeli army attack funeral of Mohammed Khawaje, the second martyr from Ni’lin in four days

1st January 2008

At around 9pm on the 31st December, Mohammed Al-Khawaje died as a result of severe brain damage following being shot in the forehead the previous Sunday.

At 10:30, his body was taken from the hospital in Ramallah in a funeral procession to Ni’lin attended by around 2,500 people. During this time, soldiers were shooting tear-gas in the town to welcome the procession.

At 11:30, his body was taken to his family home in Upper Ni’lin in order for the women of the family to pay their last respects. He was then taken out of the ambulance at the army checkpoint at the entrance to Ni’lin to be taken to the mosque in the centre of the town. There were around 50 soldiers and border police waiting for the procession on hills around the checkpoint, and also occupying the roof of a family’s home. They used sound grenades and shot tear gas a few metres from the body hitting a man and breaking his leg. They then took Mohammed’s body to the mosque where the people of Ni’lin prayed for him. He was then buried in front of the medical clinic beside the body of Arafat Al-Khawaja who was killed on the same day as Mohamed was shot.

After speeches from members of the Popular Committee and political parties at around 2pm, 150 people demonstrated on the road close to the checkpoint where the soldiers had closed the town. This continued until 5pm.

The army fired many teargas cannisters at the peaceful demonstrators, setting fire to a family’s home destroying the interior of the living room. The cannister broke through a window and set fire to the sofas. Due to the fast reaction of the towns people, the fire was contained and spared the 10 inhabitants, which included a baby.

New weapons

Today the Israeli army used a new type of tear-gas cannister which contains tear gas and also incendiary material. Although it is about 5 times as heavy as the regular cannister, it has a range of 400m which is around 4 times further than the previous ones. They are rubber coated in order to bounce more. When they are fired there is very little sound and as they only release gas upon impact, they are very difficult to follow.

As witnessed before, Israel are testing new weapons designed to maim rather than disperse, using Palestinians as targets.

Ni’lin holds two consecutive demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall

December 26, 2008

On Friday 26th December, around 250 protesters turned out for the Friday prayer demonstration against the Apartheid wall in Ni´lin. There was a large international and Israeli presence there in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The prayer started around noon followed by a march towards the construction site. The protesters were met by a barrage of tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets from the Israeli army who were waiting for the demonstration. The scattered the protesters who were split into two main groups, one who remained in the field and the other who moved to the checkpoint at the entrance of the town.

Many people suffered from tear gas inhalation with many also hit by rubber-coated steel bullets. There was a highly increased amount of teargas fired, most of which were aimed directly at the bodies of the protesters. Since mid-November the army also has been using an extension which can fire multiple round plastic covered steel bullets. Luckily no one was severely injured.

The demonstration continued until five o´clock.

The townspeople have been protesting on a regular basis since May 2008 against the construction of the Apartheid wall, which will annex another 40% of Ni’lin’s land accumulating a loss of around 85% of its land since 1948. Two children have been killed and hundreds of others have been injured by teargas, sound grenades and rubber coated steel bullets. 31 people are currently imprisoned, six of them are children, and many of them without legitimate charges.

Ni’lin – Thursday 25th of December

About 40 protesters vigilantly march down to the road to the construction site of the wall in monsoon like rain. After about 15 minutes soldiers arrived and started to shoot tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. The army came close to the town and shot tear gas at the nearby houses.

The demonstration started around noon and ended at three o´clock. Two people were hit by rubber coated steel bullet, one of them in the head who required two stitches. Many others where asphyxiated by tear gas.

Many injured in mass demonstration in Ni’lin

An estimated 400 Palestinians, internationals, Israeli activists and world media marched on the construction of the illegal apartheid that annexes much of the village of Ni’lin’s land.

Video courtesy of Israel Putermam.

The non-violent demonstrators, who were peacefully walking towards the wall were prevented by the Israeli army who shot at the group with teargas, sound bombs, rubber bullets and live ammunition from a distance. Those demonstrators that made it near to the construction site were brutally beaten by soldier wielding batons and using rifle butts as weapons.

One 70 year old American working with the Christian Peacemaker Team was shot in the lower back by a rubber bullet. Six Israeli activists were severely beaten by batons, one activist was rifle butted in the head, another suffered injuries that will disable him for a week caused by a baton-wielding Israeli boarder guard, two others had their hands broken and another was hit in the head by searing hot teargas cannister that was fired as a projectile weapon. The latter needed several stitches.

As the protesters were dispersing, the Israeli army continued firing rubber bullets and multiple tear gas canisters into the crowd containing children and the elderly. The hot canisters caught fire in the dry grass of the farmers orchards and quickly spread. Protesters tried in vain to quell the , the Israeli continued to bombard the makeshift fire rescue teams with more tear gas, starting new fires. By the time the fires had been put out more than fifteen trees were burnt beyond salvation. This is the worst in a long series of Israeli acts violence towards the villagers on Ni’lin who have suffered an illegal occupation, curfew and land-grab by the state of Israel.

AP: “Reporters hurt as Israeli security forces break up Palestinian demonstrations”

Associated Press

Crowd-control devices like stun grenades and tear gas have injured a number of journalists in recent weeks, including two television crewmen covering a women’s protest Thursday — and reporters are charging they’ve been targeted by Israeli security forces.

Over the last three months, at least five journalists were injured — including an AP photographer whose leg was broken by a stun grenade — while covering protests or Israeli military operations. In one incident, an AP photographer said a stun grenade was thrown at reporters as they talked to soldiers.

The army denied any targeting of journalists, and said it would investigate the incidents.

The military “does not intentionally harm journalists, and any such claims on this matter are baseless,” a military statement said, adding that there are “inherent risks to journalists” covering combat operations.

The casualties were caused by non-lethal means the Israelis use to break up demonstrations and riots. However, stun grenades, which make a loud noise can cause serious injuries when their canisters fly through the air, and tear gas can also cause injury in high concentrations.

On Thursday, paramilitary border police fired stun grenades from a distance of about 10 meters to break up a demonstration of women at the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Associated Press Television cameraman Eyad Moghrabi was hit on the leg by a flying piece of metal. TV footage showed a stun grenade exploding among the reporters, who were several meters away from the demonstrators. The pictures show the reporters scattering, with one clutching her leg.

“This was not the first time they fire where the journalists are located,” Moghrabi said.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the officers warned everyone, including journalists, that their presence was illegal, before firing the stun grenades, denying that reporters were targeted.

In its statement, the military said it “strives to ensure that the press is not hindered,” but said that when soldiers declare an area closed, reporters are expected to leave.

While agreeing that the military did not have a deliberate policy, Daniel Blumenthal, vice chairman of the Foreign Press Association, said there are numerous complaints. “We assume some soldiers act on their own initiative because of their idea about where a journalist should be (during) an event.”

Thursday’s casualties were only the most recent.

On Wednesday, Al-Jazeera technician Maamoun Othman was wounded when Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades during the arrest of a radical Islamic leader.

“A stun grenade was fired at me directly. It landed on my stomach,” Othman said.

On Feb. 27, journalists say they were hit as they talked to soldiers about covering an army operation in Nablus.

AP photographer Emilio Morenatti said soldiers approached them in jeeps, asking them to leave.

As they were talking with the soldiers “one hand appeared from the (army) car, and threw a stun grenade at us,” he said. No one was hurt.

The FPA protested the Nablus incident, calling it “obstruction and ill treatment of journalists.” Morenatti suffered a broken leg from a fragment of a stun grenade, thrown from a distance of about two meters while he was covering a protest in the West Bank village of Bilin in January.

On Feb. 16, AP photographer Nasser Shiyoukhi was hurt when soldiers fired a tear gas grenade that exploded next to a group of reporters near Hebron.

Bil’in Mourns 1,000 Dead in Lebanon and Gaza

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today on Friday August 4, the people of Bil’in joined by Israeli and international supporters marched to the apartheid wall and attempted to cross the gate which separates villagers from their land. They bore Palestinian and Lebanese flags alongside black flags of mourning in memory of over 1,000 people who have been murdered in Gaza and Lebanon, including the horrific massacre in Qana this past week. They delivered words and posters bearing photos and messages rejecting the Israeli aggression which has caused one of the bloodiest months for the region. The demonstrators were pushed back by Israeli military violence: sound grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas.

Demonstrators showed peaceful, but defiant, displays of the flags despite the cadre of armed military personnel, now able to hide behind newly constructed reinforcement fences. The occupation forces immediately advanced through the gate to take strategic positions overlooking the activists. At a distance of hundreds of meters, the soldiers began lobbed grenade-launched tear gas canisters, throwing concussion grenades, and firing rubber bullets. In the ensuing attack: Margaret, a 52 year-old participant from Scotland was shot in the back with a rubber bullet; Yasir, a participant from Spain was shot in the back with a rubber bullet; and John, a 53 year-old participant also from Scotland sustained facial injuries from a concussion grenade thrown directly at him.

Two large brush fires were ignited by grenade-launched tear gas. When villagers and activists attempted to return to put the fire out, the army advanced and renewed their attack of tear gas and rubber bullets on those who were clearly attempting to stop the rapidly spreading blaze. Nearly totally blinded and inhaling thick smoke, those attempting to extinguish the fire endured continued long-range bombardment of tear gas and rubber bullets by the soldiers hidden behind the fence. The fires were successfully extinguished in the end after 40 minutes, despite the attack.

Since the onset of the recent violence in Gaza and Lebanon, the people of Bil’in have maintained a weekly protest in support of those enduring continued Israeli attacks.