Mohammad Al-Mar’i; 20/8/08
The Palestinian peace activist, Ashref Abu Rahmeh, and several Israeli human rights organizations yesterday submitted a petition to Israeli High Court of Justice demanding a harsher indictment be presented against an Israeli army’s commander and soldier who were involved in shooting unarmed and bound Abu Rahmeh in the West Bank village of Nilin in early July. The petition was filed by B’Tselem, Yesh Din, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, and Abu-Rahmeh. The petitioners demand the court order military advocate general, Brig. Gen. Avi Mandelblit and the Israeli forces’ chief prosecutor Col. Liron Lieberman to amend the indictment so it may “reflect the severity of the actions.” The petition also demands that two other servicemen, Lt. Col. Omri Burberg and another staff sergeant, be tried for aggravated assault of a bound prisoner — an offense which is punishable by up to seven years in jail.
See: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=113100&d=20&m=8&y=2008
Big stink as Israel unleashes ‘skunk’ on protesters
20/8/08
The Palestinian protesters massed at the fence expected tear gas and rubber bullets, what they got instead was a putrid yellow wind, Israel’s newest weapon against West Bank demonstrators. The noxious mist, which Israeli police refer to as “skunk”, was used for the first time earlier this month, when a truck-mounted cannon sprayed it over the heads of protesters, sending them racing down the hillside, retching and tearing off their shirts to try to escape the stench. Dozens of Palestinians from the village of Bilin, along with international and Israeli activists, had marched to a nearby segment of Israel’s controversial separation barrier to demand its removal, just as they have done every Friday for the last three and a half years. “No, no to settlements, no, no to the wall!” they shouted, as they waved Palestinian flags and posters of Yusef Amira, a 16-year-old shot dead by Israeli police at a protest in a neighbouring village last month. The Israeli border police called on them to disperse through loudspeakers, warning them they were near a “closed military zone”. Then the skunk truck arrived, spraying a cloud of yellow mist and filling the air with the suffocating stench of faeces and urine.
See: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/350923.html
Tags: "Skunk" weapon, Israel, Terrorism, USA, Wall