Tristan Anderson

This afternoon, I received an e-mail message from a fellow member of the online organization mepeace.org. In it was a link to an event that took place on Friday, March 13, 2009 in the West Bank city of Nil'in.

Nil'in and Bil'in are often in international news media as two cities which have been divided by the separation fence/security wall/apartheid wall, as you see fit to call it. I choose the first, the separation fence plus the addition of separation wall.

Every Friday, various international, including Israeli and Palestinian peace organizations gather at Nil'in to protest the wall and the damage it has caused to the livelihoods of the residents there. Often there are clashes between I.D.F. soldiers and nonviolent activists.

Apparently, this past Friday the 13th, Tristan Anderson, a resident of Oakland, California, a peace activist and a journalist was hit in the head by a tear gas canister fired at the protesters by I.D.F. forces. Tristan suffered serious wounds to his head and is currently receiving treatment at the Sheba Medical Center located at the Tel HaShomer army base near to Tel Aviv. The hospital at Tel HaShomer often makes it into the headlines as it is the hospital where many Israelis, Palestinians and internationals receive treatment following conflict-induced injuries.

As far as Google tells me, no major news networks, until the last half hour, have picked up this story, although it happened already nearly three days ago. The Jerusalem Post now features a story stating that Tristan's condition is stable, although he is on a respirator.

I have a few questions.

According to the group Anarchists Against the Wall, the fact that Tristan was hit in the head by a tear gas canister is not that surprising. This group claims that it is becoming a recurring event that I.D.F. troops fire these canisters directly at protesters instead of in an arch so as to avoid direct hits.

If this is true, why are I.D.F. troops doing this?

If these protesters are nonviolent demonstrators, why are I.D.F. troops firing weapons at them at all?

Are the protestors warned?

If so, how are they warned?

If warned, how much time do they receive after warning to move out of the designated target area?

Are there regulations as to what kind of weapons can be fired at nonviolent protesters?

If rocks are thrown or catapults used, at what point does the army decide to use weapons?

What security breach or territorial breach are the protesters making, if any, which warrants a military action against them?

What is the responsibility of the occupying army to protect internationals in such a zone as the West Bank?

Another issue. There was a delay in transporting Tristan to Tel HaShomer because he was first attended to by medics of a Red Crescent ambulance and not an Israeli Magen David Adom or other ambulance service. Unable to cross the checkpoint, Tristan waited fifteen minutes before the Israeli ambulance arrived, transferred him from the Red Crescent ambulance to the Israeli ambulance and then he was on his way to the hospital. Israeli activists on the scene called the Israeli ambulance and I say, fortunately, Tristan was picked up in a timely fashion and swiftly carried to the Sheba Medical Center. Red Crescent ambulances are not permitted past certain areas in Israel because of the fear that they are a disguise for weapons and terrorists. People lose their lives pretty regularly here because of these past experiences and realities and the perpetual fear.

I live in Israel. I can say with all of my heart and soul that a person in this country is free to demonstrate, to protest, to libel and to slander the State of Israel with immense rage, freely and openly without fear of bodily harm.

Every year, in spite of threats from the Ultra Orthodox residents of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem that they will bomb buses if the Gay Pride Parade will take place, the Pride Parade proudly occurs with growing numbers every year.

Within Israel's borders, I am willing to say that things are normal for better and for worse, just like any other country in which the people are decision makers in the country's processes and actions.

However, when it comes to the Territories, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it seems to me that everything changes. It is the wild, wild west, it is hell and there is no order and only chaos. And I can only discuss what I know from hearsay and from photographs and from links on the internet.

And if for a moment anyone wonders why Israelis don't rise up against the immorality that occurs on both sides of the wall, it is important to know that they are either so cynical and jaded by decades of conflict that they don't believe it, even the video footage, or, they are afraid, scared and willing to consent to anything that tells them the actions are necessary for security.

I wasn't there. I didn't see Tristan receive the blow by the tear gas canister. I watched the video clip. And I have questions. I don't know who will answer them.