A United States citizen was seriously wounded on Friday when IDF soldiers repelled attackers by firing tear gas. The man, 37-year-old Tristan Anderson from Oakland, California, had been taking part in a violent riot during which soldiers came under attack when he was wounded.
Anderson's fellow extremist activists said he had been hit in the head with a gas canister. Their report was not confirmed by the IDF or by doctors in Tel HaShomer hospital, where Anderson was taken for treatment.
The incident took place in the Palestinian Authority-controlled village of Nalin, where the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has been working with villagers to organize weekly violent riots in protest of the Judea and Samaria separation barrier. Anderson was in Nalin to work with the ISM.
ISM members began videotaping the incident shortly after Anderson was wounded but did not record the moment at which he was allegedly hit. His friends claim that soldiers fired tear gas for no reason, and that they were delayed at a checkpoint while seeking treatment for his injuries.
Physicians at Tel HaShomer say Anderson is in critical condition.
Military officials could not confirm or deny reports of Anderson's injury, but confirmed that a violent riot took place in Nalin on Friday. Several hundred people took part in the riot, and some began throwing rocks at soldiers, prompting the use of standard riot gear, they said.
The incident is not the first in which an ISM member was seriously hurt while confronting Israeli soldiers. Two of the group's members were killed in Gaza in early 2003, one after a woman ran in front of an IDF bulldozer and the second after a protestor stood in the line of IDF fire because he feared soldiers would hit an innocent bystander.
A third ISM member was badly wounded in April of 2003 while confronting soldiers in Shechem.
The ISM describes itself as a group dedicated to “resisting the Israeli occupation... through nonviolent, direct-action methods and principals.” However, the group's claim to "non-violence" has been questioned, as the ISM has often taken an active role in subverting Israel's attempts at self-defense through activities such as assisting Arabs in sneaking around checkpoints, taking part in riots in which soldiers are attacked and preventing the arrest of PA Arabs suspected of terrorism.
Israeli courts have determined ISM members to be a threat to national security, and dozens have been deported when they were caught entering Israel. The group now teaches its members to lie in order to successfully enter the country.