Under Fire in the West Bank
Natasha Roth
‘I won’t say we changed the open-fire regulations, but we’ve taken a slightly tougher approach with people around here,’ Brigadier General Tamir Yadai, the Israeli army commander in the West Bank, said last month. ‘In places where we used to fire tear-gas or rubber bullets, we now fire Ruger bullets and sometimes live bullets.’ Yadai was talking to residents of Halamish, an Israeli settlement, who had complained about the worsening security situation.
Halamish is opposite the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, in the centre of the West Bank, about twelve miles from Ramallah. As in many other Palestinian villages throughout the Occupied Territories, there are demonstrations there every Friday against the unlawful acquisition of Palestinian land. Nabi Saleh’s water supply has been taken over by settlers from Halamish, and there’s an Israeli military watchtower on the way in to the village. The demonstrations have been broken up by ‘crowd dispersal methods’: tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades and skunk water (a putrid-smelling liquid shot out of a high-powered hose from a moving vehicle; the stench stays behind for weeks). These weapons are classed as non-lethal, although demonstrators have been killed by both tear gas and rubber bullets.
The use of live ammunition against stone-throwers and unarmed protesters is strictly prohibited by Israeli regulations, unless there is ‘immediate, mortal danger’. Between 2005 and 2013, at least 46 Palestinian stone-throwers were killed by live ammunition. Two Palestinian teenagers, who posed no threat to Israeli soldiers, were shot dead at a protest on Nakba Day last year. I was at that demonstration, and the crack of live fire could intermittently be heard, even before the boys were killed. But these incidents were sporadic and apparently isolated. Now, however, the use of live ammunition – in these instances, small .22 bullets – is becoming standard practice in demonstrations throughout the West Bank, as documented by B'Tselem and the photographer Haim Schwarczenberg, and confirmed by Brigadier General Yadai’s remarks.
The .22 bullets – reintroduced in 2008 after a seven year ban – are less dangerous than regular ammunition, but they can still cause death or severe injury. On 18 November 2014, Nariman Tamimi – a prominent activist in Nabi Saleh, along with her husband, Bassem, and their children – was shot in the leg at close range by a .22 bullet. She didn’t pose any ‘immediate, mortal danger’ to Israeli troops, and was targeted from the back of a Jeep. Two months later she is still on crutches. Her family continues to demonstrate.
At the demonstration I went to on 16 January, two Israeli army snipers took position on the bank at the side of the road that the protesters march down on their way to the watchtower. The usual contingent of Israeli Border Police was waiting for us and fired large quantities of tear gas our way. Most protesters were holding signs and singing; a few were throwing stones in the direction of the Border Police, but nothing resembling a mortal threat. After less than fifteen minutes one of the snipers shot a live bullet at a group of unarmed protesters. Bassem Tamimi pulled everyone back. On 23 January army snipers again fired live ammunition, even after many of us had scattered following two salvoes of ferociously strong tear gas launched by the Border Police.
The same thing happens every week throughout the West Bank. The illegal use of lethal force is woefully under-reported in the Israeli media. The few stories that appear are generally prefaced by the words 'according to Palestinian sources', so many Israeli readers won’t believe them. The occupier doesn’t value the occupied’s word any more than their history or their lives. Yet the demonstrations continue. Every Friday, the residents of Nabi Saleh sing in Arabic: ‘Rise, arise, raise your voice: whoever’s screaming does not die.’
Comments
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29 January 2015
at
6:34am
farthington
says:
No worries.
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29 January 2015
at
10:13am
stettiner
says:
@
farthington
Fantastic.This comment says all about LRB and most of its readers....
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29 January 2015
at
11:52am
ander
says:
@
stettiner
Yes, LRB anti-Semitic ever since Mearsheimer & Walt, and the readers because they read it. (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/john-mearsheimer/the-israel-lobby)
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29 January 2015
at
3:58pm
sol_adelman
says:
@
ander
Is there any criticism of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians that you pair consider valid, and not 'anti-Semitic'? The LRB's readership are among the people in our society most likely to speak out against injustice wherever they see it. If you do not realise that, then there's nothing that can be done for you.
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29 January 2015
at
4:46pm
ander
says:
@
sol_adelman
Well said of stettiner. Who's the other chap?
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29 January 2015
at
5:47pm
sol_adelman
says:
@
ander
Forgive me, my friend. Having read such ignorance just before your comment, I was not attuned to your subtle irony. And unfortunately we both know that there are those who would cite the Mearsheimer and Walt as Exhibit A in alleging LRB anti-Semitism. Sincerest apologies for bracketing you with that horse's dangler.
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29 January 2015
at
7:40pm
ander
says:
@
sol_adelman
No apology needed. Glad to see you on the right side of the security wall.
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29 January 2015
at
8:44pm
ander
says:
@
ander
I meant to say "the apartheid wall", sorry.
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29 January 2015
at
10:00pm
stettiner
says:
@
ander
As Angliopoloski of Lithuania used to say: "Gentlemen, and if the Cap fits, wear it"...
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3 February 2015
at
1:30pm
Allbarone
says:
@
stettiner
Mate, you're a one-trick pony and you're boring the shit our of me. Desist.
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29 January 2015
at
12:34pm
ander
says:
The weapon with which the hooligan shown in the photo shoots at the natives is a Ruger 10/22 suppressed semi-automatic. In its non-silenced version (readily available at any Walmart), the rifle is commonly used by the American peasantry to kill small furry animals just for fun.
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29 January 2015
at
4:46pm
John Cowan
says:
Thrown rocks can also cause "death or serious injury", as any Jew, Christian, or Muslim who reads their sacred scriptures knows perfectly well. And you don't know whether a rock has put you into "immediate, mortal danger" until it hits you.
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29 January 2015
at
4:52pm
ander
says:
@
John Cowan
Indeed, a kevlar-clad, behelmeted soldier on a hill overlooking the demo would be particularly vulnerable.
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12 February 2015
at
5:04pm
gotnotruck
says:
I assume "The Gatekeepers": Sin Beit, spies at the time, a film which predicted Rabin's assasination and the current situation has been shown in London, and larger cities and towns around the country, (if any movie theaters remain; here they're going the way of bookstores). One big problem was that Russian Jews, who western countries worked so hard to release from - was it the USSR or Russia? made such terrible taxi drivers in New York. An example: I was on West End and West 91st St, asked to be taken to East 94th between Park and Third. His question: "What do you mean by 'East Side'?" I got out and waited for the next cab. Obviously someone in the Taxi and Limousine Service was trying to make it easy for them. North of Greenwich Village, New York is a grid. Not hard to understand. At all. Not knowing that means the driver had never been required to take the exam.
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19 February 2015
at
12:32pm
stettiner
says:
@
gotnotruck
As I said, fantastic....
Read moreUnder cover of the purported global epidemic of anti-Semitism and the 'existential' threat of Iran, Israel has carte blanche to plough through the residue of the indigenes, out-living their use-by date, towards lebensraum.
Western Civilisation in action.
Or in real Polish: Uderz w stół, a nożyce się odezwą...
Off they all went to Israel, where they became settlers and like most escapees or refugees from every communist country I've met, right wing. In their case also with a sense of ownership of all of Judea and Samaria. The deed being in the Bible.
The next important film you must have seen is "Five Broken Cameras". Made by a Palestinian in the West Bank and Israeli human rights worker. My memory is a bit foggy but at least three, perhaps four of those cameras were shot by the IDF. Some while held in front of someone's face. A tragic film. Literally not let into building where the the Academy Awards Ceremony proceeded without a mention of it. It played NYC a few days. Jon Stewart's film never showed here. He was a bad boy complaining about the Latest Gaza war. Did a show or two about it. I don't know, but think his reason for resigning is a bit fishy. Every pol wants to "spend more time with his family". I hope he comes back. I'm no longer to comment on the NYTimes. Too anti Israel. Though I'm welcome to comment on Ha'aretz. I suggest you subscribe. Only $9.