PHOTOS: Protest in Nabi Saleh consumed by tear gas

By Joseph Dana June 10, 2011 | Edit

Unusually high levels of tear gas were used in an attempt to crush the weekly unarmed demonstration today at Nabi Saleh.

Roughly 40 new (and many first time) Israeli supporters joined the demonstration today, led by IPCRI director Gershom Baskin. From the demonstration, Baskin repeatedly contacted the Israeli army and informed them of the high numbers of Israelis present and the desire to maintain a non-violent, unarmed demonstration. Despite this, the demonstrators were only able to march about 100 meters inside the village before they were attacked by tear gas.

Tear gas canistered were fired directly at prosters, houses and even inside homes, a protesters were rendered unconscious and several of the village’s children suffered from fainting and exhaustion from the fumes. At one point, Israeli soldiers went house to house looking for international or Israeli activists to arrest. Over five people were detained in the course of the demonstration.

See photos from the demonstration below. All photos and their captions are taken from my Twitter feed which I updated live and from the scene. Please forgive the poor quality of my Blackberry camera. For more on my use of the social media platform Twitter and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, watch my recent interview with Al Jazeera’s The Stream streaming on their website.

PHOTOS: Protest in Nabi Saleh consumed by tear gas

The press at Nabi Saleh. About 100 people showed up for the demonstration today, including a large number of Israelis. Later, a BBC was almost hit directly in the head by a tear gas canister. (photo: Joseph Dana)

Nabi Saleh under major attack, far more gas than normal (photo: Joseph Dana)

A protester lost consciousness after inhaling tear gas (photo: Joseph Dana)

Children suffocating inside houses after an attack with tear gas (Photo:Joseph Dana)

While the unconsious protester received treatment, the house he was in was pelted with ten rounds of gas (photo: Joseph Dana)

Several of the village children were affected by the tear gas, exhausted and laying on the floor (photo: Joseph Dana)

Stone throwing began in the village, and soldiers targeted the stone throwing youth directly (photo: Joseph Dana)

Joseph Dana was a contributing writer on +972 Magazine from August 2010 to December 2011. This is an archive of his work.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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