Tag: Tear Gas - Page 9 - International Solidarity Movement

Trial of American activist maimed by Israeli military to begin

5th December 2014 | International Solidarity Movement| Occupied Palestine

Tristan Anderson’s civil trial against the Israeli Military will begin on Sunday 7 December at 10:00, Jerusalem District Court.

Tristan Anderson was critically injured after being shot in the head with a high velocity tear gas grenade by Israeli Border Police following a protest against the construction of the “Separation Wall” in March of 2009 in the West Bank village of Ni’ilin. Anderson, an international solidarity activist from Oakland, California, had arrived in the region a few weeks earlier with his American Jewish girlfriend who also attended demonstrations opposing the seizure of Palestinian land and freedoms for the building of the Wall.

According to its manufacturer, Combined Systems Inc (of the USA), High Velocity Tear Gas grenades are intended as “barricade penetrators” and have a range of several hundred meters. Tristan was shot in the face from about 60 meters away, crushing his skull, blinding him in one of his eyes, and sending shards of bone penetrating deep into his brain.

Years later Tristan continues to require around the clock care because of cognitive impairment and physical disability. He is also paralyzed on half his body and uses a wheelchair.

Tristan with his parents, Mike and Nancy Anderson in their home in Grass Valley, California.

No criminal charges were ever filed against the officers who shot Tristan Anderson and the investigation into his shooting has been widely regarded as a sham.

The family of Tristan Anderson, represented by Israeli human rights attorney Lea Tsemel, have been waiting for years for their day in court. On the witness stand this week (Sunday 7 Dec and Thurs 11 December) will be other international activists who were with Tristan at the time of his shooting. They will give testimony about the shooting itself, their involvement in the protest movement, and about the checkpoint where Tristan’s ambulance was delayed by Israeli soldiers. Several Palestinian activists also witnessed the shooting, but have been banned from participating in the trial because they are West Bank residents and the court is in Jerusalem.

Additional court dates (in addition to 7 Dec and 11 Dec) are set for 25 December, 28 December, and 4 January.

Ni’lin continues to hold weekly demonstrations against the Wall.

VIDEO: Non-violent protest met with tear gas and stun grenades

29th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Today in al-Khalil (Hebron) families gathered to stage a peaceful demonstration protesting the continuing closure of the Shuhada checkpoint. The rally consisted of approximately 50 Palestinians, of all ages. The protesters met outside of the closed checkpoint at 1 pm, armed with nothing but Palestinian flags.

The protest moved towards the checkpoint, as soon as it reached the checkpoint´s outer barrier the soldiers from the other side threw a tear gas grenade and two stun grenades at the dense group of protesters.

The protesters dispersed immediately, elderly men had to be assisted by other protesters due to tear gas inhalation. Several young Palestinian boys then threw stones at the checkpoint, but were stopped by other protesters.

Video by Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine.

The dispersed demonstrators stayed in the area near the checkpoint after the first aggression by the Israeli occupation forces, but several more tear gas grenades and stun grenades forced the protesters to leave the area completely. Young Palestinian boys then began to throw stones again and clashes broke out. The soldiers responded to the stones with excessive amounts of tear gas and stun grenades. Much of the tear gas was either deployed or drifted into the busy business streets in the Bab a-Zawiya area, effecting hundreds of Palestinians.

An ISM activist present stated afterwards, “They [the Israeli occupation forces] rarely use tear gas at clashes on Fridays where the street is empty. Today they used a lot of gas, even though the streets were full with people minding their own business.”

The clashes continued until 4 pm this afternoon. Many shopkeepers decided to close their shops to protect their goods from the tear gas.

Shuhada checkpoint has been closed for the past 8 days as part of a policy of collective punishment directed at the Palestinians in surrounding neighbourhoods after the checkpoint was burnt during clashes last Friday. The checkpoint connects Bab a-Zawiya, a neighbourhood in H1 (supposedly under full Palestinian authority control) to Tel Rumeida, an H2 residential area under full Israeli military civil and security control. For the past days, Israeli soldiers have been denying passage through the checkpoint to Palestinians including children, elderly people and teachers from nearby schools who needed special permission to pass.

Israeli forces fire 29 tear gas canisters towards youths and schoolchildren in Hebron

19th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

This morning in al-Khalil (Hebron), clashes broke out in the Qeitun area starting between 07:00 and 08:00 near the Qeitun checkpoint. By 08:00 the group of Palestinian teenagers and young boys present had grown to approximately 100 individuals, since the school closed, most likely due to tear gas drifting inside. The large group of schoolchildren marched towards the checkpoint while chanting and shouting. Some of the boys threw stones at the checkpoint, though no soldier was either hit with a stone or injured.

The clash went on for one and a half hours, with Israeli forces firing many tear gas canisters at the children. Two ISM’ers present saw how a group of soldiers tried to ambush a group of children, seemingly in an attempt to arrest them.

An ISM’er present stated, “Suddenly five or six soldiers came running from an alleyway, the kids saw them in time, and fled. I yelled at them [the soldiers] that they should leave, and that it was only children.”

Overall approximately 29 tear gas canisters and one stun grenade were fired.

At around 11 am the soldiers were still stationed outside the checkpoint, aiming their guns down the street, even though no stone throwing youths were present.

VIDEO: 14-year-old violently arrested in Hebron

6th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

On October 30th, a 14-year-old boy was violently arrested by Israeli forces in al-Khalil (Hebron).

Due to a teachers strike in solidarity with underpaid public workers, school in Hebron finished at 10:00 in the morning. Several young boys threw stones towards the military, armed at Salaymeh checkpoint, and the soldiers then fired three canisters of tear gas.

The children threw more stones, and the soldiers fired approximately ten more tear gas grenades in several rounds. This continued until 11:00 when an army vehicle drove up from a side street at a high speed. Three soldiers jumped outside one of the school buildings, before running into a school yard and arrested the 14-year-old boy.

Clahes after funeral for murdered Orwa Hammad

27th October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Silwad, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday a funeral was held for 14-year-old Orwa Abd al-Hadi Hammad, shot dead by the Israeli military on Friday, in the small village of Silwad close to Ramallah.

Orwa was shot dead by Israeli forces on Friday, during a demonstration at the edge of the small village of Silwad. The demonstration was about the Israeli military occupying the edge of the village to protect a road used by Zionist settlers from the the illegal settlement of Ofra.

Orwa was a US citizen. His funeral was delayed until Sunday so his father would be able to travel from the United States to attend the funeral. The funeral procession consisted of thousands of men, waving flags and chanting through the narrow streets of Silwad, while carrying Orwa’s body on a stretcher. In the procession were parents of other children shot by the Israeli military. All shops in the town were closed and posters honoring the victim were posted everywhere.

The procession moved from the mosque to the funeral sight in the center of the village. At the end of the somber service the relatives’ grief turned into frustration towards the Israeli occupation and the loss of the young boy.

Later, young men gathered at the spot where Orwa was killed, near where the Israeli military base is placed on the edge of the village. As 50 – 100 mourners, among them relatives of the deceased, residents of the village and internationals, burned tires and chanted, the Israeli military began to fire rubber-coated steel bullets and many tear gas canisters.

After more than an hour the Israeli military withdrew, just before entering the center of the village. Four ambulances left the scene carrying people wounded by the rubber-coated steel bullets and overcome by tear gas inhalation.