[News] Chemical Warfare on the West Bank?

[News at freedomarchives.org]

http://www.counterpunch.org/brooks07062004.html

  July 5, 2004    CounterPunch.org

How Israel "Disperses" Demonstrations

Chemical Warfare on the West Bank?

By JAMES BROOKS

"On June 10th, 2004, the two clinics in Al-Zawiya treated 130 patients for 
gas inhalation. The patients were children, women, old people and young 
men. Dr. Abu Madi related that there was a high number of cases of 
[tetany], spasm in legs and hands, connected to the nervous system. Pupils 
were dilated...Other symptoms included shock, semi-consciousness, 
hyperventilation, irritation and sweating." (1)

Thus reads a report by medical units serving the West Bank village of 
Al-Zawiya, where nonviolent resistance to Israel's impending wall has been 
extraordinarily resolute. According to the medical report (procured by the 
International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC), "the gas used against the 
protestors is not tear gas but possibly a nerve gas."

The following day, Israel's 'Peace Bloc', Gush Shalom, began a press 
release with the following quote from Al-Zawiya: "What the army used here 
yesterday was not tear gas. We know what tear gas is, what it feels like. 
That was something totally different.... When we were still a long way off 
from where the bulldozers were working, they started shooting things like 
this one (holding up a dark green metal tube with the inscription "Hand and 
rifle grenade no.400" - in English). Black smoke came out. Anyone who 
breathed it lost consciousness immediately, more than a hundred people. 
They remained unconscious for nearly 24 hours. One is still unconscious, at 
Rapidiya Hospital in Nablus. They had high fever and their muscles became 
rigid. Some needed urgent blood transfusion. Now, is this a way of 
dispersing a demonstration, or is it chemical warfare?" (2)

The incident in Al-Zawiya appears to be the tenth attack by Israeli 
soldiers using an "unknown gas" against Palestinian civilians since early 
2001. We have photographs of the canisters. We have film of victims 
suffering in the hospital. We have interviews with Palestinian and European 
doctors who have treated the victims. And we presumably have hundreds, 
perhaps thousands, of survivors. But we know nothing of their fate. Despite 
the evidence, we have not inquired.

Though it is a state secret, Israel's development of chemical and 
biological weapons has been known and analyzed for decades. From the 
typhoid poisoning of Palestinian wells and water supplies in 1948 (3,4) to 
the conversion of F-16s into nerve gas 'crop dusters' in 1998 (5), Israel 
has always demonstrated a strong interest in developing CBW agents and 
methods for their dispersal.

In 1992 an El Al 747 flying nerve gas ingredients from the US to Israel 
crashed into an Amsterdam apartment building. (6) According to Salman 
Abu-Sitta, president of the Palestine Land Society, the respected Dutch 
daily NRC Handelsblad followed up the crash with an in-depth investigation 
of the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR), Israel's CBW 
complex in Nes Ziona. The paper reportedly found "strong links" with 
several US CBW and medical research centers, "close cooperation between 
IIBR and the British-American biological warfare programme", and "extensive 
collaboration on BW research with Germany and Holland." (7)

At IIBR, doctors publish world-class research in acetylcholine, the mother 
lode of nerve gas design. The Nes Ziona complex is reputed to have invented 
an "undetectable" poison-needle gun for "clean" assassinations. (8) In 
September 1997, two days after Jordan's King Hussein told Israeli PM 
Netanyahu that Hamas was seeking negotiations, Mossad agents in Jordan 
attempted to kill Hamas leader Khaled Misha'al with a lethal dose of 
fentanyl. (9)

For years, rumors persisted that Israel was using or testing unknown 
chemical agents on Palestinian civilians. The rumors began to reveal their 
substance February 12, 2001, when Israel began a six-week campaign of 
"novel gas" attacks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. By chance, American 
filmmaker James Longley arrived in Khan Younis, Gaza in the middle of the 
first attack. That afternoon he began filming the victims. His 
award-winning film, Gaza Strip, documents the naked reality of Israel's 
chemical weaponry_the canisters, the doctors, the eyewitnesses, and the 
hideous suffering of the victims, many of whom remained hospitalized for 
days or weeks. (10)

The February 12 gassing of neighborhoods in Khan Younis presaged the 
attacks that followed. When the gas canisters landed, they began to billow 
clouds of either white or black, sooty smoke. The gas was non-irritating 
and initially odorless, changing to a sweet, minty fragrance after a few 
minutes. One victim recalled, "the smell was good. You want to breathe 
more. You feel good when you inhale it." The smoke often shifted to a 
"rainbow" of changing colors. (11) (12)

 >From five to thirty minutes after breathing the gas, victims began to 
feel sick and have difficulty breathing. A searing pain began to wrench 
their gut, followed by vomiting, sometimes of blood, then complete hysteria 
and extremely violent convulsions. Many victims suffered a relentless 
syndrome for days or weeks afterward, alternating between convulsions and 
periods of conscious, twitching, vomiting agony. Palestinians agreed: "This 
is like nothing we've ever seen before." (13)

Forty people were admitted to Al-Nasser Hospital "in an odd state of 
hysteria and nervous breakdown", suffering from "fainting and spasms." 
Sixteen gas patients had to be transferred to the intensive care unit. 
Doctors "reported the Israeli use of gas that appeared to cause 
convulsions." (14)

At the Gharbi refugee camp, thirty-two people "were treated for serious 
injuries" following exposure to the gas. Dr. Salakh Shami at Al-Amal 
Hospital reported the hospital receiving "about 130 patients suffering from 
gas inhalation from February 12." (15)

Bewildered medical personnel had "never seen anything..like the gas at 
Tufa." Victims were "jumping up and down, left and right..thrashing limbs 
around", suffering "convulsions..a kind of hysteria. They were all 
shaking." Others were already unconscious. An hour or two later, they would 
come to. And the convulsions and the vomiting and disorientation and pain 
would return.(16)

The following day, February 13, Israeli forces again deployed the strange 
new gas canisters in Khan Younis. Over forty new gas victims, "including a 
number of children..from 1 to 5 years-old", arrived at Al-Nasser Hospital 
and the hospital of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. (17)

The news began to trickle out. "Palestinian security services have accused 
the Israeli army of using nerve gas during a gunbattle yesterday", reported 
AFX News Limited, noting "the army has strongly denied the charges." (18) 
The Voice of Palestine reported that "specialists believe that this is an 
internationally banned nerve gas." Those who inhaled the gas "suffered a 
nervous breakdown and vomited blood." (19)

The next day, Deutsche Presse-Agentur quoted Dr. Yasser Sheikh Ali from 
Al-Nasser Hospital: "Israel has been using a powerful type of tear gas 
against the Palestinians that causes convulsions and spasms." According to 
DPA, more than 80 Palestinians...reported that Israeli soldiers had used 
the white smoky gas, but Israel denied doing so." (20)

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported that on February 15 
three more canisters of the poison gas were fired at houses in the Khan 
Younis camp, and "another 11 Palestinian civilians, mostly children, 
suffered from suffocation and spasms due to gas inhalation." (21) British 
journalist Graham Usher wrote that Khan Younis civilians were 
"incapacitated" by "a 'new' form of toxic gas." (22)

PA President Yasser Arafat publicly "accused Israel of using poison gas." 
The IDF issued a second denial. Israeli Communications Minister Ben-Eliezer 
called reports of gas casualties in Khan Younis "incorrect and false." 
Senior PA minister Nabil Shaath said that a sample of the gas would be sent 
to "an international center for analysis." (23) The results, if any, were 
never divulged.

On February 18, Israeli soldiers near the Neve Dekalim settlement 
reportedly fired four poison gas canisters at Palestinian houses in Khan 
Younis. Later that afternoon, more canisters were fired, forcing 
Palestinians to flee their homes. PCHR reported that "41 Palestinian 
civilians, mostly children and women, suffered from suffocation and 
spasms." (24) By PCHR's count, 238 Palestinians were affected by poison gas 
attacks between February 12 and February 20. Twenty-seven of the victims 
were still hospitalized on the 22nd. (25)

On March 2, an unknown gas was used against civilians in the West Bank town 
of Al-Bireh. Israeli soldiers reportedly fired "canisters of a highly 
effective black gas similar to the one used in Khan Yunis three weeks ago." 
(26)

Twenty-four days later, Israeli forces east of Gaza City used a gas that 
"left symptoms different from those of the..gas used first.. in Khan Yunis 
starting from February 12..", although several similarities also appeared. 
In this attack the onset of abdominal pain seemed to be delayed. (27)

On March 30, medical professionals in Nablus reported Israeli soldiers 
using the new poison gas against Palestinian demonstrators. (28)

British journalist Jonathan Cook reported a March gas attack on the 
schoolyard of Al-Khader village, near Bethlehem. Thirteen year-old Sliman 
Salah was playing when a gas canister landed next to him, "enveloping him 
in a cloud of gas described by witnesses as an unfamiliar, yellow colour." 
Large doses of anti-convulsants were required to control the boy's seizures 
and maintain consciousness. His symptoms "were finally brought under 
control five days after his exposure to the gas. But Salah's father says 
the boy is still suffering from stomach pains, vomiting, dizziness and 
breathing problems." (29)

In its March, 2003 special report, Israel's Secret Weapon, BBC Television 
reviewed this series of gas attacks, noting, "The Israeli army has used new 
unidentified weapons. In February 2001 a new gas was used in Gaza. A 
hundred and eighty patients were admitted to hospitals with severe 
convulsions....Israel is outside chemical and biological weapons treaties 
and still refuses to say what the new gas was." (30)

In my amateur analysis of the reported comments of victims, eyewitnesses 
and medical professionals regarding this series of attacks, I identified 
thirty-three distinct symptoms attributed to the unidentified gas. All but 
three of these symptoms appear to be typical of nerve gas poisoning. (31) 
Tareg Bey, a chemical warfare expert at the University of 
California-Irvine, told the Chicago Reader that the symptoms described to 
him "all fit really well to nerve gas", though he was puzzled by the 
reported fragrance and skin rashes. (32)

In an October 9, 2003 article, Jennifer Loewenstein and Angela Gaff asked, 
"What gas is Israel using?" They reported the story of Mukhles Burgal, a 
Palestinian prisoner caught in a brutal attack inside Israel's Ashkelon 
prison. The "guards forced their way into the crowded cell, spraying two 
canisters of some type of gas. Some of the 14 prisoners passed out...The 
effects of the gas were severe muscle spasms and an overwhelming sensation 
of not being able to breathe." (33)

Two days later, Palestine Monitor reported that Israeli forces in Rafah 
were allegedly "firing gas grenades containing a black gas believed to be 
adamatite [adamsite?]- the use of which is forbidden according to 
international law. Medical authorities urged people to avoid the gas at all 
costs, as it not only causes difficulty in breathing but seriously affects 
the nervous system." (34) For some reason, PCHR's press release from the 
same day, an apparent source of these reports, is no longer available. (35) 
On the 14th, eyewitness Laura Gordon wrote, "The army used some kind of 
nerve gas for the first time in Rafah, leaving people in convulsions for 
days." (36)

Following the recent gas attack in Al-Zawiya, town officials reportedly 
told Al Ayyam newspaper, "the Israeli occupation troops were using an 
illegal substance that caused nerve spasms and that several cases had been 
transferred to Nablus hospitals." (37)

The PA's International Press Center reported that "official and public 
sources in..Al-Zawya..asserted that those who have inhaled the tear gas IOF 
troops fired at them four days ago are still suffering from the effects of 
the gas...a number of those citizens have already had amnesias or partial 
memory loss, in addition to cramps...in addition to strange cramps every 
three hours... those who inhaled the gas are still suffering severe pains 
in the joints and nausea for four days now. Eyewitnesses recalled that the 
Israeli soldiers were keen on picking the empty tear gas canisters.." 
Journalists told IPC "that the gas was in different colors they have never 
seen coming out of a tear gas canister before, and that some gases had an 
unrecalled smell." (38)

According to IMEMC, "..tens of demonstrators who inhaled this gas had 
partial memory loss. Dr. Bassam Abu Madi told IMEMC that the some of those 
who inhaled the gas had severe choking and some contraction in their feet 
and arm muscles. Eyewitnesses said the gas has a strange smell and a 
reddish-brownish color." [corrected copy] In a follow up story, IMEMC 
concluded that "protesters were attacked with gas that is not like the tear 
gas. Those who inhaled the gas suffered some memory loss while others had 
other symptoms of a nerve gas. Yet this was not medically confirmed for 
lack of laboratories to inspect the gas canisters collected from the 
scene." (39)

Al Jazeera reported the opinion of Awni Khatib, a professor of chemistry at 
Hebron University; "the new symptoms-particularly the violent convulsions 
experienced by some Palestinian protesters outside the village of Sawiya 
[Zawiya], southwest of Nablus-suggest..that the Israeli army may be using a 
new class of chemicals that lie somewhere between normal tear gas and 
chemical weapons." (40)

Israel's repeated use of highly toxic unknown chemicals against Palestinian 
civilians is now an open secret. We can expect these attacks to continue 
until a concerted effort is made to determine the facts and hold Israel 
accountable. So far, the international human rights community has 
steadfastly ignored the mounting evidence.

When will professional investigators begin to retrieve and test the gas 
canisters? Why has no one but James Longley bothered to document interviews 
with victims, doctors, and other eyewitnesses? In a world in which one 
country's mere possession of chemical weapons can be an excuse for 
international retribution, how another country's use of chemical weapons 
against civilians be dismissed as a "regrettably excessive" tactic of crowd 
control?

Our silence is poisoning Palestine.


James Brooks is a writer and webmaster for Vermonters for a Just Peace in 
Palestine/Israel. He can be reached at:jamiedb at att.biz

1. One Israeli, one Palestinian arrested and 40 wounded in anti-wall 
protest, International Middle East Media Center, 6/14/2004

2. Sharon Praised While Wall Construction Continues, Gush Shalom, 6/11/2004

3. The Jews of Iraq, by Naeim Giladi, The Link, April-May, 1998, American 
Middle East Update

4. Traces of poison, by Salman Abu-Sitta, Al-Ahram Weekly Online, 27 Feb. - 
5 March 2003

5. Israeli WMD - Israel's Weapons of Mass Destruction, by Neil Sammonds, 
ZNet, 10/11/2002

6. ibid.

7. Traces of poison, by Salman Abu-Sitta, Al-Ahram Weekly Online, 27 Feb. - 
5 March 2003

8. Israel's Anti-Civilian Weapons by John F. Mahoney, January -March 2001

9. Diplomatic Struggle Follows Bungled Assassination Attempt in Jordan, New 
York Times, October 15, 1997

10. Gaza Strip, James Longley, producer 2001

11. The Israeli Poison Gas Attacks: A Preliminary Investigation, James 
Brooks, Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel, January 8, 2003

12. Selected Interviews Gaza Strip by James Longley

13. ibid.

14. Israelis Kill 14-year-old, Assassinate Arafat Bodyguard, IANA Radionet, 
Islamic Assembly of North America, February 13, 2001

15. Israeli Army Fires Highly Toxic Quantities of Tear Gas at Civilians in 
Khan Yunis, Gaza, Palestine Monitor, February 15, 2001

16. Selected Interviews Gaza Strip by James Longley

17. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli 
Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Feb. 8 - 
14, 2001

18. AFX News Limited, AFX European Focus, February 13, 2001

19. Selected Interviews Gaza Strip by James Longley

20. ibid.

21. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli 
Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, February 
15 - 21, 2001

22. Unprepared for the worst, by Graham Usher, Al-Ahram Weekly Online, Feb. 
15 - 21, 2001

23. Arafat accuses Israel of using poison gas, CNN Asia, February 16, 2001

24. PCHR Weekly Report, Feb. 15 - 21, 2001

25. ibid.

26. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli 
Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, March 1 - 
7, 2001 (contains typographical error incorrectly listing incident as 
occurring "Friday, February 22")

27. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli 
Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, March 22 - 
29, 2001

28. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli 
Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, March 29 - 
April 4, 2001

29. Vale of tears: Tear or poison gas?, by Jonathan Cook, Al-Ahram Weekly 
On-line, 5 - 11 April 2001

30. Israel's Secret Weapon, transcript, BBC, March 17, 2003

31. Gas Attack/What Was It?/News Bites, by Michael Miner, Chicago Reader, 
August 23, 2002 Reader Archive--Article: 2002/020823/HOTTYPE

32. Symptoms - The Israeli Poison Gas Attacks: A Preliminary Investigation, 
by James Brooks, VTJP

33. What gas is Israel using?, by Jennifer Loewenstein and Angela Gaff, 
Electronic Intifada, 10/9/2003

34. UPDATE: Israeli invasion of Gaza refugee camps leave 7 dead and 65 
injured meanwhile strict lock down of Palestinian territories continues, 
Palestine Monitor, 10/11/2003

35. PCHR press release index 2003

36. Eyewitness account of the invasion of Rafah, by Laura Gordon, 
International Middle East Media Center, 10/14/2003

37. "This damned, racist wall", by Omar Karmi, Palestine Report, 6/16/2004

38. Israeli Sources: IOF Uses Chemical Weapons Against Palestinian 
Demonstrators, International Press Center, 6/13/2004 [erroneously refers to 
Gush Shalom as "Peace Now"]

39. Nonviolence Protestors managed to halt the construction, International 
Middle East Media Center, 6/16/2004

40. Palestinian resistance leaders killed, Al Jazeera, June 26, 2004



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