I have included below the reports issued by the Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall and the International Solidarity Movement, whose members were also present in Nil'in when Tristan was shot.
Also included is a link to the video footage shot just after Tristan was hit (please note it may cause distress to some)
Since December last year, the Israeli military has been using a new type of tear gas cannister. The new tear gas is a black canister, labelled “40mm bullet, special/extended range” in
Hebrew. According to AATW it has a range of over 400 meters and emits a very faint sound when
fired and leaves hardly any smoke tail at all, thus making it extremely
difficult to avoid. The older style cannisters emited a smoke tail and a whizzing sound when fired.
Despite it being illegal under Israeli military operations laws, the Israeli military often use teargas as a weapon rather than a "crowd control" agent. Under Israeli military operation regulations and law, tear gas cannisters should not be fired directly at the bodies of protestors as they can cause serious injury or death.
According to AATW, the Israeli military have also started to once again fire Ruger .22 bullets into peaceful demonstrations in the Occupied West Bank.
Israeli anti-occupation activists are currently organising demonstrations to take place in Tel Aviv and there have been calls for international demonstrations in support of Tristan and the people of Nil'in to also take place. Please consider if you can participate in or organise such a demonstration.
in solidarity, Kim
www.livefromoccupiedpalestine.blogspot.
www.directaction.org.au***
Video footage of Tristan Anderson after being hit by tear gas cannister
http://pop.youtube.com/user/ISMPalestine*****************
American Protester Critically Injured by Soldiers in Ni'ilin
13/03/2009
Anarchists Against the Wall
http://www.awalls.org/tristan
Tristan
Anderson, 38, an American citizen, was critically injured on Friday by
Israeli troops during protests against Israel's Wall in the West Bank
village of Ni’lin. He was hit in his forehead by a new type of high
velocity, extended range teargas projectile, and has been transferred
to Tel Hashomer hospital, near Tel Aviv. Tristan is unconscious,
anesthetized and artificially respirated, has sustained
life-threatening injuries to his brain (as well as to his right eye),
and is expected to undergo several operations in the coming days, in
addition to the one he underwent today.
The impact of the projectile caused numerous condensed fractures to
Anderson's forehead and right eye socket. During the operation, part of
his right frontal lobe had to be removed, as it was penetrated by bone
fragments. A brain fluid leakage was sealed using a tendon from his
thigh, and both his right eye and skin suffered extensive damage. The
long term scope of all of Tristan's injuries is yet unknown. It should
also be noted that soldiers at the Ni'ilin checkpoint prevented the Red
Crescent ambulance from taking Tristan directly to the hospital,
forcing it to wait for approximately 15 minutes until an Israeli ICU
ambulance (called by Israeli activists) arrived at the scene, after
which he had to be carried from one ambulance to the other. This, of
course, is standard procedure - in the extremely rare cases where the
army allows patients from the occupied territories to be tranferred
into Israel.
Tristan was hit while standing with a fellow protester inside the
village, several hours after the army initially attacked a protest
march of Ni'ilin's residents (joined by Israeli and international
activists) who attempted to march onto their own lands in the vicinity
of the wall. As opposed to previous demonstrations, this week
protesters managed to actually reach the road on which the wall is
currently being built, and even caused damage to parts of the
razor-wire protecting the site, as well as to the newly erected fence
segments of the barrier. Israeli troops dispersed demonstrators by
using large amounts of teargas and rubber coated steel bullets, driving
everyone back into the village. Soldiers then followed the crowd and
proceeded to shoot concussion grenades, teargas canisters, rubber
coated steel bullets and even live ammunition into the village, to
which many of Ni'ilin's youth responded with slingshots, trying to
drive the army away from the outskirts of the village.
Tristan Anderson, a few weeks before his injury, pictured during a jail solidarity demonstration in front of Jalameh prison
Anderson's injury is part of a recent escalation in the army's
violent attempts to suppress Palestinian unarmed popular resistance to
the occupation. Israeli troops have been using the new teargas canister
since December 2008, coinciding with the beginning of Israel's ruthless
assault on Gaza. The black canister, labelled “40mm bullet,
special/extended range” in Hebrew, has a range of over 400 meters,
emits a very faint sound when fired and leaves hardly any smoke tail at
all – making it extremely difficult to avoid. Furthermore, and against
the army's own regulations, soldiers routinely shoot it directly
towards demonstrators, as opposed to in an arched trajectory. The
combination of all these factors has led to numerous severe injuries
from the projectiles, including a fractured skull and a broken leg
suffered by Palestinians earlier this year.
a new, "extended range" teargas projectile, similar to the one fired at Tristan's head. Photo: ISM Palestine
In addition, Israel has resumed its use of sniper-fire, shot from a
suppressed Ruger 10/22 rifle, as a means of crowd dispersal. This was
forbidden by the army itself already in late 2001, after the Judge
Advocate General at the time reclassified the Ruger as "live
ammunition" for all intents and purposes, following numerous deaths of
demonstrators as well as tests carried out in military shooting ranges.
During the Friday clashes in Ni'ilin, two other Palestinians and one
international were lightly injured after being hit by teargas
canisters, while a third Palestinian was shot in his leg with live
ammunition by a sniper, and was evacuated to a hospital in Ramallah.
****
American citizen critically injured after being shot in the head by Israeli forces in Ni’lin
Updates below Press Release
For Immediate Release
13th Friday 2009, Ni’lin Village: An American
citizen has been critically injured in the village of Ni’lin after
Israeli forces shot him in the head with a tear-gas canister.
Tristan Anderson from California USA, 37 years old, has been taken
to Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv. Anderson is
unconscious and has been bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth. He
sustained a large hole in his forehead where he was struck by the
canister. He is currently being operated on.
Tristan was shot by the new tear-gas canisters that can
be shot up to 500m. I ran over as I saw someone had been shot, while
the Israeli forces continued to fire tear-gas at us. When an ambulance
came, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow the ambulance through the
checkpoint just outside the village. After 5 minutes of arguing with
the soldiers, the ambulance passed.
– Teah Lunqvist (Sweden) - International Solidarity Movement
The Israeli army began using to use a high velocity tear gas
canister in December 2008. The black canister, labeled in Hebrew as
“40mm bullet special/long range,” can shoot over 400 meters. The gas
canister does not make a noise when fired or emit a smoke tail. A
combination of the canister’s high velocity and silence is extremely
dangerous and has caused numerous injuries, including a Palestinian
male whose leg was broken in January 2009.
Please Contact:
Adam Taylor (English), ISM Media Office +972 8503948
Sasha Solanas (English), ISM Media Office - +972 549032981
Woody Berch (English), at Tel Hashomer hospital +972 548053082
Tristan Anderson
Tristan Anderson was shot as Israeli forces attacked a demonstration
against the construction of the annexation wall through the village of
Ni’lin’s land. Another resident from Ni’lin was shot in the leg with
live ammunition.
Four Ni’lin residents have been killed during demonstrations against the confiscation of their land.
Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on
29th July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice
with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a
week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third
Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the
back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed
Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him
brain dead. He died three days in a Ramallah hospital.
Residents in the village of Ni’lin have been demonstrating against
the construction of the Apartheid Wall, deemed illegal by the
International Court of Justice in 2004. Ni’lin will lose approximately
2500 dunums of agricultural land when the construction of the Wall is
completed. Ni’lin was 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums
in 1967, currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after the
construction of the Wall.
Updates:
Orly Levi, a spokeswoman at the Tel Hashomer hospital, tells Ha’aretz:
He’s in critical condition, anesthetized and on a
ventilator and undergoing imaging tests,” She described Anderson’s
condition as life-threatening.
Israeli activist Jonathan Pollack told Ynet:
… the firing incident took place inside the village and
not next to the fence. There were clashes in the earlier hours, but he
wasn’t part of them. He didn’t throw stones and wasn’t standing next to
the stone throwers.
There was really no reason to fire at them. The Dutch girl standing
next to him was not hurt. It only injured him, like a bullet.
13 March: Anarchists Against the Wall reports on Tristan’s condition (volunteers with AWALLS were present when Tristan was injured and have been at the hospital to oversee his treatment):
The impact of the projectile caused numerous condensed
fractures to Anderson’s forehead and right eye socket. During the
operation part of his right frontal lobe had to be removed, as it was
penetrated by bone fragments. A brain fluid leakage was sealed using a
tendon from his thigh, and both his right eye and skin suffered
extensive damage. The long term scope of all of Tristan’s injuries is
yet unknown.
--
There will be a day for the oppressor when he will be crushed like garlic - Palestinian proverb.
Some came and took our land, forced us to leave, forced us to live in camps. I think this is terrorism. Using means to resist this terrorism and stop its effects - this is called struggle." — Leila Khaled
Remember the solidarity shown to Palestine here and everywhere... and remember also that there is a cause to which many people have committed themselves, difficulties and terrible obstacles notwithstanding. Why? Because it is a just cause, a noble ideal, a moral quest for equality and human rights - Edward Said
Offline 
Send Email