Tristan Anderson, 37, of Oakland, California was shot in the head today by the Israeli military in the West Bank village of Ni'lin. Ni'lin has been the site of frequent nonviolent protests against the Separation Wall which is taking the village's land. Anderson was not participating in a protest when he was shot.
The International Solidarity Movement reports:
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, is currently
being 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.
The Israeli soldiers were standing on the hill looking
over us firing tear-gas canisters straight into the crowd. Tristan was
hit and fell to the ground. He had a large hole in the front of his
head. I tried to stop the bleeding, but he was bleeding heavily from
the head, nose and mouth.
– Ulrika Jenson (Sweden) – International Solidarity Movement
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
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.
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.
UPDATE: 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.
