PALESTINE: ISRAELI GAS ATTACKS TAKE HEALTH TOLL ON WEST BANK VILLAGERS
by David Bloom
Witnesses and officials in Jayyous, a farming village in the occupied West
Bank, say a series of unprovoked tear-gas attacks by Israeli troops in
recent weeks have taken a grave toll on residents' health. The attacks come
with a further tightening of Israeli military control of the town.
Shareef Omar Khaled of the Jayyous Land Defense committee noted that even
though Israel's "separation wall" has now completely cut off the town from
its agricultural lands, the Israeli army has clamped a still tighter noose
on Jayyous, imposing a checkpoint at the town's entrance, and controlling
all traffic coming in and out. Shareef reports that soldiers frequently
enter to the village and throw tear gas, and that many residents have
developed respiratory problems.
Shareef Omar reports that pregnant women in the village are suffering
miscarriages as a likely result of the gas. Animals are suffering
spontaneous abortions at a greater rate, with reports that 30
sheep recently aborted because of a gas canister dropped on a farmer's
barn.
An international witness recently visiting Jayyous reports that two to
three times a day in the week prior to his April 28 arrival, Israeli
soldiers drove into town, shooting tear gas and harrassing residents. The
witness reports that "soldiers had teargassed the town's school, forcing
children to evacuate their classrooms and sending one female teacher to the
hospital for a day." Villagers report that such incursions have worsened
since the Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza
one month earlier.
Another international volunteer reports on the effects of the gas on a
developmentally disabled young man, named Loay, who was hospitalized, and
lost ten kilos in 10 days. "It was through his blood tests that the doctors
informed him that his difficulties stem from the effects of the tear gas.
There is hope that Loay will fully recover, but not without physical
therapy and time."
On March 28, the same international reported: "Two nights ago, they used
more than 30 tear gas cannisters. It has been reported than an infant was
badly affected and had to be taken to the emergency room. It was also
reported that women had to go to the small clinic here in the village the
morning after this attack due to having pain in their chests. It seems that
the feeling in the village is that...this particular tear gas was stronger
and more potent than recent times... I found myself coughing and my eyes
tearing up more than 30 minutes after the soldiers shot off their tear gas
bombs. This could have been due to either the high number of cannisters let
off, or it could have been because the gas was of a different potency. We
will never know."
On March 27, the Red Cross reportedly came to the village and interviewed
several people who had suffered from the tear gas. The Red Cross continues
to monitor the gas attacks, and is said to be preparing a report on the
issue.
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See also: PALESTINIAN FARMING VILLAGE BEING STRANGLED BY WALL
Special to WORLD WAR 3 REPORT, May 15, 2004
Reprinting permissible with attribution
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