U.S. activist shot in head by Israelis in West Bank

3/16 UPDATE: Tristan's family has released a statement with some hopeful news, reading in part:

Tristan's girlfriend, Gaby, who has been tirelessly by his side, reports that he is doing much better. When the doctor asked him to put up two fingers he did so. Tristan recognizes Gaby and can squeeze her fingers in answer to different questions. He's started his moving toes and his torso around a bit. This is welcome and wonderful news! We understand things can go up and down, however we are deeply hopeful that Tristan will recover. We are looking forward to when he is stable enough that he can return home to the care and comfort of his family and community.

The video is very graphic:

Tristan Anderson, a 37-year-old from Oakland, CA, was shot in the head today with a high-velocity tear gas canister by an Israeli soldier while observing a protest against Israel's Apartheid Wall in the West Bank village of Ni'lin.  Fellow ISM activist Ulrika Jenson says that, "Tristan was hit and fell to the ground. He had a large hole in the front of his head, and his brain was visible."

Note in the video that after he is hit the Israelis continue firing tear gas as the medics begin to assist him. Emergency personnel are then forced to transfer him from a Palestinian ambulance to an Israeli one at a checkpoint. Prior to that transfer, Teah Lunqvist, who was there, said that, "When an ambulance came, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow the ambulance through the checkpoint just outside the village. After 5 minutes of arguing with the soldiers, the ambulance passed."

It goes without saying that he is receiving this attention and Israeli treatment because he is a U.S. citizen. Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during these protests don't get treatment in Israeli hospitals or make the news. Four residents of Ni'lin have been killed by Israelis while protesting against the wall and the confiscation of their land in less than a year.  Yet such an event hits home for many of us, myself included, as it is easy to imagine myself or many of my friends in his very situation as an international solidarity activist.

My thoughts are with Tristan, his family, friends, and comrades.

Tear down apartheid. Free Palestine.

Comments

[Gert]

Thanks for posting this. Well said. "SOBs of the AOF" springs to mind...

[Doctor Zoidberg]

Another report from his Israeli friends who were with him at the protest and the hospital can be found at:
http://awalls.org/
Thanks, and let's hope for the best.