[News] US/ISM Activist Loses Eye After Being Shot In Face With Gas Canister

[Anti-Imperialist News]

American Activist Loses Eye After Being Shot In Face With Gas Canister

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  Tuesday June 01, 2010 10:32
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 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
http://www.imemc.org/article/58825

Emily Henochowicz, 21, was hit in the face by a 
tear gas canister Monday while attending a 
Ramallah protest against Israel's raid on the 
Freedom Flotilla. Henochowicz was taken to the 
Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem where she is 
undergoing surgery to remove her left eye.

According to eyewitnesses, an Israeli soldier 
shot Henochowicz directly in the face during a 
demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint today. 
Israeli troops forces fired volleys of tear gas 
at unarmed Palestinian and international 
protesters, spreading panic amongst the 
demonstrators and Palestinian workers lined up at the checkpoint.

“They clearly saw us,” said Sören Johanssen, a 
Swedish ISM volunteer standing with Henochowicz. 
“They clearly saw that we were internationals and 
it really looked as though they were trying to 
hit us. They fired many canisters at us in rapid 
succession. One landed on either side of Emily, 
then the third one hit her in the face.”

Henochowicz is a student at Cooper Union, a 
prestigious art school in Manhattan.

The demonstration was one of many that took place 
across the West Bank today in outrage over the 
Israeli military’s attack on the Gaza freedom 
flotilla and blatant violation of international 
law. Demonstrations also took place in inside 
Israel, Gaza and Jerusalem, with clashes 
occurring in East Jerusalem and Palestinian 
shopkeepers in the occupied Old City closing 
their businesses for the day in protest.

Tear gas canisters are commonly used against 
demonstrators in the occupied West Bank. In May 
2009, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered 
Israeli Police to review its guidelines for 
dispersing demonstrators after Bassem Abu Rahmah 
was hit and killed by a gas canister in Bil’in. 
Tear-gas canisters are designed to be used as a 
means of crowd dispersal, to be shot indirectly 
at demonstrators and from a distance. However, 
Israeli forces frequently shoot canisters directly at protesters.

The protest was held to condemn an Israeli 
military attack on the Mavi Marmara, one of six 
ships on the Freedom Flotilla at 5 a.m. this 
morning, during which soldiers opened fire on the 
hundreds of unarmed civilians aboard. No-one 
aboard the ships were carrying weapons of any 
kind, including for defense against a feared 
Israeli attack in international waters. At least 
9 aid workers aboard the ship have been confirmed 
dead, with dozens more injured. The assault took 
place 70 miles off the Gaza coast in 
international waters, after the flotilla was 
surrounded by three Israeli warships.

The Freedom Flotilla, carrying 700 human rights 
activists from over 40 countries and 10,000 
tonnes of humanitarian aid, was headed for the 
after an besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip. 
The Israeli blockade on Gaza, combined with the 
illegal buffer zone, has put a stranglehold on 
the territory. 42% of Gazans are unemployed, and 
food insecurity hovers around 60% according to 
figures from the Palestine Centre for Human Rights.




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