Soldiers Fire Tear Gas Canisters Directly at Demonstrators in Ni'ilin

Thirty protesters including a handful of Israeli supporters march in Ni’ilin demanding an end to occupation and the continued confiscation of Ni’ilin’s land to the Separation Wall and the occupation. Army responded by firing tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators.

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Ni'ilin Marches on International Human Rights Day. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana Ni'ilin Marches on International Human Rights Day. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana

After midday prayers, villagers and supporters from Ni'ilin marched to the wall and demanded the return of Ni'ilin's land to the village. Soldiers addressed the protest from the other side of wall and informed everyone that the area was a closed military zone. Within seconds, soldiers began firing tear gas canisters directly at protesters. Undeterred, demonstrators continued to chant and bang on the gate of the wall. Eventually, the relentless tear gas forced the protest to the western edge of the barrier.

 

Soldiers eventually crossed the barrier and attacked demonstrators by directly firing tear gas at them from short range. Quickly, the soldiers retreated to the other side of the wall and the demonstration continued for another half and hour. After a massive amount of tear gas was fired, the demonstration ended. No injuries other than tear gas inhalation were reported.

 

In March of 2009, American solidarity activist Tristan Anderson was critical injured when a high-velocity tear gas canister was fired directly at this his head from close range in Ni'ilin. The army has recently reintroduced these banned weapons to the West Bank demonstrations. The use of tear gas canisters as large bullets is a dangerously escalation in the army's conduct in West Bank demonstrations.