Democratic Palestine : 40 (ص 7)
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- Democratic Palestine : 40 (ص 7)
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«Tear gas» cannisters and rubber bullets
consequences, in addition to the problems already men-
tioned. The use of high-velocity bullets is a case in point.
These bullets essentially explode inside the body, scattering
fragments which extensively damage bones, internal organs,
nerves, muscle tissue, blood vessels and the spinal cord. The
PHR delegation reported that 30 percent of the gunshot
injuries over one day old that they saw in hospitals «had
resulted in serious long-term or permanent loss of leg func-
tion...most of them will never walk again.»
Although tens of Palestinians have died from beatings,
the beating policy of the army is systematically designed to
inflict maximum damage while reducing the risk of death. A
physically or mentally crippled Palestinian is much less likely
to receive image-damaging international media attention
than a martyr, yet the negative impact on the community is
as great, if not greater. Reports from the occupied ter-
ritories tell of soldiers first ascertaining if their victim is left
or right-handed and then proceeding, at the least, to break
that limb in a way so systematic as to indicate «training» in
the most effective bone-breaking technique. Indeed, the
PHR report noted that virtually all the hand and arm frac-
tures they saw were on the dominant side. The beatings
meted out in Gaza are particularly brutal, with the resulting
injuries being generally more serious and extensive than in
the West Bank. Remarking on their observations in Gaza,
PHR wrote that «the word beating does not properly con-
vey the literal pounding and mauling with clubs and other
weapons required to produce the injuries we saw.» That
Gaza, whose largely refugee population is concentrated in
camps particularly vulnerable to army violence, can be and
is frequently closed-off to the media by the authorities is, af
least in part, the probable explanation for this.
Whatever the cause of the injuries, the long-term
effects are the same on a community whose medical
resources are totally inadequate to deal with injuries need-
ing such extensive physical and psychological rehabilitation.
Rubber bullets - actually metal slugs encased in hard
rubber - have been largely responsible for the extensive eye
injuries and actual loss of eyes suffered by many Palesti-
nians. The deliberate misuse by soldiers of this supposedly
non-lethal means of «crowd control». has resulted in the
death of at least six Palestinians, four of whom were chil-
dren aged ten or younger. They died after suffering severe
head injuries caused by rubber bullets fired at close range.
Tear gas, another deliberately misused means of «riot
control,» has caused at least 88 deaths during the uprising,
according to the Palestine Human Rights Information
Center report of June. Indeed, «tear gas» is a misnomer for
Democratic Palestine, July-August 1990
the toxic gases being used against the Palestinian population
with such devastating consequences. Physicians for Human
Rights, which studied the massive use of tear gas against
demonstrators by the South Korean government in 1987,
stated that tear gases should more properly be called
«poisonous gases» and should be «banned from further use
against human populations everywhere» (reported in
MERIP, May-June 1988). CS gas, which is used extensively
by the Israeli forces, is more potent and has longer-lasting
effects than the other gas - called CN - known to be used
in the occupied territories. These gases are potentially lethal
in high concentrations and when used in enclosed places.
Infants, children, the elderly and those with respiratory and
heart disease are particularly vulnerable to the effects of
these gases.
Occupation forces routinely throw tear gas into homes,
schools, shops, clinics, hospitals and mosques. It sticks to
clothing, walls, furniture and carpeting and will remain there
for days, contaminating food supplies that can unknowingly
be ingested. Apart from the immediate injury these gases
cause, the long-term effects of them are not known, includ-
ing whether or not they are carcenogenic.
In addition to these 88 deaths, hundreds of women have
miscarried their babies after being exposed to tear gas. The
problem is particularly acute in the crowded refugee camps
of the Gaza Strip, where the Popular Committees for Health
Services report 630 women having miscarried after exposure
to tear gas in the first 14 months alone of the uprising.
Although it is not known exactly how tear gas causes
death, medical experts suggest that the resulting oxygen
deprivation and the gas’s effect on blood circulation are the
reasons. The breakdown of the gas’s chemicals in the
bloodstream into a toxic substance like cyanide is also sus-
pected in causing tear gas-related deaths. In addition, seri-
Ous injuries have been caused by soldiers firing the metal
gas canisters from rifles directly at people from close range.
including into their faces. The Israelis have not attributed a
single death to tear gas, although the few post-mortems per-
formed by the authorities on tear gas victims list the cause
of death as, to give a few examples, heart attack,
pneumonia or respiratory failure, without taking into consid-
eration the circumstances of death (Ben Alofs, More Than
Tear Gas: Harassing Agents and Their Use in the Occupied
Territories, 1988, p. 43). It is interesting that the military
authorities have forbidden Gaza medical staff to list tear gas
inhalation as the cause of death on a child’s death certifi-
cate.
As well, the Israeli authorities refuse to disclose infor-
mation about the composition and toxicity of the tear gas
being used, although this would be quite helpful in provid-
ing proper medical treatment. Even physicians inquiring
about this at the Poison Control Center in Haifa were told
that such information was unavailable or «classified.»
There is evidence that Israel is using other more toxic
chemicals against the Palestinian population. Ben Alofs
reported that a doctor at Moqassed Hospital in Jerusalem
described the effects of a different gas as causing problems
to the nervous system. Also, UNRWA’s director of health,
John Hiddlestone, reported that Israeli troops were using
highly toxic new gases against Palestinians; one kind causes
severe abdominal pain and another immobilized its victims
by weakening the muscles upon inhalation. He also
described an incident in which two Palestinians were beaten
and put in a room where Israeli soldiers had sprayed an
aerosol. «The room was then shut and after an hour or so
z
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