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.
Next time wear bullet proof armor. What the hell were you thinking in a war zone? duh!
It's no fun doing this. It requires real courage. I have a clip of one girl virtually walking into the gunsights, just to make a moral point:
Ah, the double standard in all its glory! You wouldn't give the same advice to the residents of Sderot or wonder what the hell they were thinking, would you? It does illustrate the lie that if the Palestinians would only adopt non-violence as a strategy all the violence would end. Just look at all the vile comments at Ynet.
And, as an aside, Johnathan Pollock(from Anarchists Against the Wall) rocks!
We on this blog have to remember these moments– the cruelty and disrespect for the critical wounded of people like Suzanne, especially. We are dealing with a ruthless, hateful violent mind-set in Israel and its supporters that needs to be opposed before it wreaks havoc on this country and the rest of the world. People do not shoot down and kill non-violent protestors, massacre entire familes, bulldoze peoples' homes out of any sense of sanity. Israel and its supporters are simply crazed beyond the pale, and we must organize ourselves to oppose them tooth and nail.
Have any of you noticed that Zionists like Suzzane never, ever, have a kind word to say about people's lives? If you are not Jewish and not a Zionist you don't matter to these people.
Look at her cold response to the life-threatening situation this guy is in. I pray he recovers soon.
Should the Allies have risked their lives to bring the Jews to safety in WWII? What the hell were they thinking, going into a war zone to try to protect Jews from the slaughter of the Nazis?
Suzanne, you are not helping your people. You are a disgusting, immoral human being.
Ugh.
And just why are you calling this West Bank village a war zone?
I think it is clear that everytime the justice for Palestine side is asked, "where is their Gandhi?", the answer is:
being shot in the head
Uh, there is NO bullet proof body armor for the forehead. You need to do better in justifying attacks like this and assuaging your bad conscience.
"… 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."
If it was non violent why were they throwing stones?
The awful fact is that Israel has hundreds of nukes. What are people with this mindset capable of doing with them?
You guys should see the celebrations of this awful incidents going on in the YNet talkbacks. How sad. An American is about to die an awful, tragic death, and people are celebrating it, trumpeting their lack of sympathy and sense that this man got what he deserved.
How peace will ever be possible with those who have such radical ideas as this, I don't know…
He was in a war zone. And he was a terrorist. And he jumped in front of the gas cannister. And he was using himself as a human shield. And it was an accident. Hamas pushed him in front of the cannister.
Wearing protective headgear or body armor would most likely have been seen as provocative by the IDF.
Wasn't Rachel Corrie wearing a bright orange safety vest which was obviously meant to burn IDF retinas?
I guess they remember the daily suicide bombings prior to the separation fence.
"The army also said that some 400 left wing Israeli, Palestinian and foreign activists had arrived at the area while violating a closed military area order, and that some of them, who were veiled, had hurled stones at the security forces, who responded with crowd dispersal means."
if he was in a war zone, i guess that explains why he was taken to Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv… some folks here aren't dealing with a full deck….
All these comments merely demonstrate exactly my point. Genocide can always be explained. Cold blooded murder, as in the case of Rachel Corrie, is again being justified.
Zionists cutting down yet more Americans. How many Americans have to be killed before the US pulls the plug? The US government financing of all of this reminds me of how the Soviet Union took resources from its own people and used those resources to kill them. That tear gas canister was probably paid for by American taxpayers, perhaps even the victim himself.
The “Americans” who support this in Congress and elsewhere are very sick individuals. They need to be sent the way of the Politburo.
By the same Zionut logic, any Israeli settler family in the West Bank has knowingly moved into a war zone and deserves any injury they get. . .
I pity especially the children raised in such a moral environment, not to mention them being put at risk by their parents. Child abuse.
People, we have a potential fifth column in our midst. These so-called American Jews of the Zionist variety have more loyalty towards the aparthied state of Israel than to their own country which is hosting them. They aren't incensed by the fact that an American was shot by their co-religionists and Zionists.
Do yoursevles a favor and move. We have given your Zionists enough money and weapons, and its now time to wean off of America's t*t.
I pity especially the children raised in such a moral environment, not to mention them being put at risk by their parents. Child abuse.
Posted by: Jaffr
The settlers are just off their gourds. To not only want to live somewhere just to bother others, but to want to raise their children to do the same thing. I've seen a picture of a settler teaching his small son how to shoot a machinegun. Very disturbing. How does a group of people end up this crazy?
According to the reports he wasn't throwing stones and neither was anyone close to him.
Read Ran Hacohen, in his piece called "The Palestinian Gandhi", describe how the IDF has admitted that it infiltrates Palestinian demonstrations and throws stones at its own forces:
http://www.antiwar.com/hacohen/?articleid=5796
Suzanne: "Next time wear bullet proof armor. What the hell were you thinking in a war zone? duh!"
So what are you saying? It's your fault if you get hurt when I shoot you because you weren't wearing enough body armor? How about we put a little responsibility on the soldiers? It might take three or four decades but some day these Israeli solders will be sitting at home watching the tenth re-run of a documentary on the rise and fall of Israel when they will burst into tears at the things they did when they were callow, young and arrogant in the IDF.
@tree – Thx for the article and your excerpts. It reminds me of the instances in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" where it was shown that police instigators would infiltrate anti-war group. They were generally kicked out when they would advocate violence.
Some have suggested that Hamas rocket attacks themselves are at times carried out by false flag forces; meant to end any lull in the action that would not play into the Israeli agenda.
"It might take three or four decades but some day these Israeli solders will be sitting at home watching the tenth re-run of a documentary on the rise and fall of Israel when they will burst into tears at the things they did when they were callow, young and arrogant in the IDF."
@ Duscany,
You are much too kind. I agree that Israel will fall, fall very hard. But the soldiers will not be shedding tears. They will be holding meetings in Suzanne's home to plot to steal another people's land.
If they wanted to kill people, they would have shot live bullets, not teargas. The sad fact is that when dealing with a violent mob (which this was) there is no way to disperse them that is guaranteed to not kill anyone. A bad reaction to tear gas, getting hit by the canister (as in this case), tripping and getting trampled in the confusion, etc.
Just like (despite what the movies show) there is no way to hit someone that is guaranteed to knock them out and guaranteed not to kill them.
Back to the demonstration. Palestinians and their supporters really need to crack open a dictionary and find out what "non-violent" means. Here is a hint:
1) Throwing stones is violent.
2) If you are being violent, you are not being non-violent.
3) Therefore this was not a non-violent demonstration. Q.E.D.
Plus, if you tried taking a mob of stone throwers into a restricted military area and attacking the soldiers there in the USA or most any other country that has a military, they wouldn't just use teargas on you, they would open up on you with automatic weapons.
It is unfortunate that this idiot is horribly injured. Hopefully he will recover and thereafter refrain from joining violent mobs.
"It is unfortunate that this idiot is horribly injured. Hopefully he will recover and thereafter refrain from joining violent mobs."
The most a Zionist can ever be kind. Don't expect much more.
Ameircan has its problems, but please stop comparing it to Israel. America may have lost the way, but it will find it back. Israel never had a soul to begin with.
You are closer to the truth when you compare Israel to aparthied South African and Nazis. My, the Zionists learn from their opresssers well.
I notice none of the links to this story are to mass media outlets in the US.
I will become Tristan Anderson.
Thom, three out of the four Kent State students that were shot were Jewish. They didn't survive to recover and refrain from joining violent mobs. Kool, right?
Suzanne, Thom, and Julian sound like shyster defense lawyers pleading the case for their sociopath criminal client who sits at the table with the victims' blood on his hands, grinning at the cleverness of his lawyers, and knowing the judge has been bought off.
The Zionist fifth column is running a parallel civic body and citizenry that is intellectually well-equipped with the forked tongue (and conscience) of a shyster lawyer. Alan Dershowitz is their role model. Michael Mukasey is the role model for the corrupt judge. They all get together with Barney Frank and Chuck Schumer for a party after a hard day at work swindling the goy.
Thom: "If they wanted to kill people, they would have shot live bullets, not teargas."
The IDF will use whatever it takes. If they can disperse demonstrators by shooting them in the face with teargas cannisters they will do that. If they need real bullets or white phosphorous rounds they will do that as well. They don't care about the victims because the victims, frankly, are not Jewish.
Next time use they should use live ammo and save Israeli (and American) taxpayers the cost of keeping this piece of shit "alive."
Two to the body, one to the head.
So . . . he's in a closed military zone in the midst of a crowd throwing stones and other projectiles at the Israeli Army? Now, if he were, let's say, in the middle of Gaza City, part of a mob throwing stones at Hamas, how exactly would he have been treated?
I know it's really fun and exciting to participate in rallys. Funny how he felt relatively safe protesting against the Israelis. He didn't go to Saudi to protest women's rights, to Turkey to protest the Kurds' rights, to China to throw rocks at the police and protest Tibet, to Darfur to protest genocide, to Teheran to protest the hangings of gays, etc. Nor did he go to Washington, D.C. to throw rocks at its leadersip – I'm sure that nothing would have happened to him if he was in the midst of a violent mob in D.C. Yeah, right.
But since everyone here is lauding Chas Freeman, I will just throw his words back at you – and if Chas Freeman says it, it must be so:
"I do not believe it is acceptable for any country to allow . . . dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be. Such folk, whether they represent a veterans' 'Bonus Army' or a 'student uprising' on behalf of 'the goddess of democracy' should expect to be displaced with despatch [sic] from the ground they occupy."
So Tristan was dispatched with the blessing of Chas.
The lack of accountability for such violence enables more of it. Write your Congressperson and demand a Congressional investigation! Write your newspaper and demand coverage!
"He didn't go to Saudi to protest women's rights, to Turkey to protest the Kurds' rights, to China to throw rocks at the police and protest Tibet, to Darfur to protest genocide, to Teheran to protest the hangings of gays, etc. Nor did he go to Washington, D.C. to throw rocks at its leadersip…"
@ Harcourt Fenton,
One step at a time brother, one step at a time.
Don't worry, they and I, and we shall come after them too. After you as well as your fifth column relatives are shipped across the oceans and into Israel.
As Americas, we have to take down Israel's apartheid first because they are doing it with our direct tax dollars. All these countries you mention are using their own money to suppress their own countrymen.
Israel is suppressing another nation, going into another people's borders, with OUR tax money while SPYING on US. If Israel suppresses its own, like say, settlers or its own gays then maybe some of us would leave you alone.
Americans like to give their own government the benefit of doubt and if they continue to not listen, then we do have a history of taking to the streets and demanding that they listen because they are the servants of the people.
Stop lecturing us and go lecture your fifth column buddies and relatives that winds are a changing and once day Israel will come crashing down. Just like South Africa. So while there is time, repent and try to get your soul back from the Zionist Devil. And don’t forget that it was Gentiles that saved the Jews from the gas chambers or God knows they might have been completely wiped out. You people sure know how to be thankful.
Tristan Anderson did not go to Israel. He was in Palestine.
@Citizen
I don't care what religion the Kent State students who got shot were. In the days before the shooting there were riots, looting, some of those scumbag "protesters" attacked firemen who were trying to put out a building on fire and slashed the firehoses.
Mobs had been throwing stones at guardsmen and some had been seriously injured. I don't know whether the shootings were justified. The guardsmen said they were being advanced upon by the mob and given the totality of the circumstances I think their fear that they were about to be attacked was justified, even if they were mistaken.
In any case, these kinds of things are prone to happen when mobs riot.
Remember, the concept of an "unarmed mob" is a ridiculous one. When that monster Baruch Goldstein attacked the worshipers in the Cave of the Patriarchs, he was armed, they were not. They were still able to beat him to death. Killing Goldstein was justifiable homicide, but the point is that a large group of unarmed people can be a danger to smaller groups of armed people.
In any case, I attach far more blame for the Kent State deaths on the looters and rioters than on the National Guardsmen.
Oh, and the National Guardsmen at Kent State were firing live ammo, not teargas.
Investigate what? A Corrie Darwinism episode? You know why congress has no investigation? Because it doesn't need to waste precious american resources to prove a girl died because she was a suicidal idiot promoting the palestinian dream of genocide.
Zionism is the perfect example of the banality of evil. Just read the utter nonsense that cowards like Julian and that pig Suzanne spew on this blog.
If a Jew dies, it's a tragedy for these rats. If it's the goyim, it was clearly due to the goyim's own fault.
Nothing is more antisemetic than Zionism.
@ Thom: "a large group of unarmed people can be a danger to smaller groups of armed people."
This sounds like some kind of Trotskyite rationale. No doubt you Zionists are brushing up your talking points for the day you hope to loose US troops on American citizens, as you've already unleashed Zionist troops on them. Fortunately, American troops will put Americans first, and do an about face on the wild eyed Trotskyite Zios screaming for American blood.
@ Chris Berel,
See, by using your logic I propose that Americans stop sponsoring Israeli terrorism and racism with our tax dollars and end Israel's aparthied dream of Jewish Supermacism.
Who was the Stern Gang? Who Irgun?
Answer: Jewish Jihadis
What did the Jewish Jihadis do to the village of Dir Yassin?
Answer: They wiped out its inhabitants and renamed the village.
http://www.deiryassin.org/shimontzabar.html
My sympathies and thoughts are with this brave gentleman and his family. I hope he pulls through.
Will we see comdemnation of this act by those who critisized Chas Freeman's supposed remarks about Tianmen Square?
@ spuxxx,
No you will not see any condemnation from that crowd. Don't you see that the American activist was an anti-Semite? Chinese dissidents are another matter because the Chinese dissidents haven't really spoken out about Israel. As soon as Chinese dissidents sympathize with the Palestinians they will be labeled as anti-Semites too.
Harcourt Fenton: "Funny how he felt relatively safe protesting against the Israelis."
Well, it's clear that was a delusion, fostered perhaps by the kind of people who write apologia for Israel here, continually pushing the notion that Israel would never deliberately hurt anyone, especially an American, given that we're the ones who have been supporting Israel the last 40 years or so.
Poor delusional antisemites, Israel will not deliberately protect any idiot, regardless of their nationality, when they engage in unlawful activity.
Stupid, racist, nazi-style americans who believe americans deserve special protection and dispensation when they break the law are some of the worst antisemites on earth.
Chris Berel is getting desperate. He keeps labeling people anti-semites because they are criticizing the Racist state of Israel.
"Poor delusional antisemites, Israel will not deliberately protect any idiot, regardless of their nationality, when they engage in unlawful activity."
Well, there you have it. That's why Israel shot up all those three and four year old kids in Gaza. They were engaging in unlawful activity. (And you got to get them young–otherwise they just grow up to hate Israel, unlike the settler children who have only love in their hearts and only throw rocks at Palestinian kids when required by the Torah.)
Here are the words from the mouths of the "American" Zionists themselves. Read them to understand why the Communists employed Jewish authoritarians to usher in and enforce their totalitarian ideology in the early Soviet Union by murdering the opposition en masse, and why Jewish Zionists are crucial to contemporary "American" would-be totalitarians' plans to usher in Communism's heir.
—
Berel: "Stupid, racist, nazi-style americans"… [Corrie was]a girl died because she was a suicidal idiot"
Thom: "the Kent State students who got shot were… scumbag "protesters"…"these kinds of things are prone to happen when mobs riot."
Mazuz: "Next time they should use live ammo and save Israeli (and American) taxpayers the cost of keeping this piece of shit "alive." Two to the body, one to the head."
Zionism: "He was in a war zone. And he was a terrorist. And he jumped in front of the gas cannister."
—
These people have no respect for any human life that isn't Jewish, and hence are useful to authoritarian, Big Government elitists who also regard humanity as so much cattle to be exploited, wrung for all their worth to enrich the elite, and disposed of when they speak up for themselves.
I love having ED here. It is the EDs of Phil's Phools that prove there is no reason to negotiate with antisemites. They are just morons. And Phil's best friends.
@ Chris Berel,
Chris does not even realize that he pays the rest of us compliments. By spewing out Zionist hatred he reminds us all that we sure are glad we are not as brainwashed as him. Better to be a phool and one of Phil's phools than to be a racist Zionist.
This is what is so strange about Israel-firsters. They cheer when Israels kill Americans then get indignant when other Americans tell them to shove it where the sun don't shine, and stuff their racial supremacist ideology up there too.