Palestinian boy hurt by rubber bullet during anti-fence protest

[Resistance]

Haaretz English

A 10-year-old boy was hit by a rubber-coated bullet and two other Palestinians were lightly hurt by teargas inhalation during an anti-fence demonstration near the West Bank village of Dir Kadis, close to Modi'in Illit, Palestinian sources said.

Some 200 Palestinians and Israeli left-wing protesters were demonstrating against the construction of the separation fence, and Israel Defense Forces troops fired teargas and stun grenades at them.

[Jim Sagle]

1. And in other news, a Palestinian was treated for food poisoning from a

leftover pizza he stole from an IDF dumpster. An unnamed source claimed the pizza had been donated by Little Green Footballs.

[Resistance]

2. thanks for expressing your concern

[Jim Sagle]

3. Just doin' what I can...to make the world a better place.

[Resistance]

4. you and Ariel Sharon, right?

[Jim Sagle]

5. And don't forget the Dersh man.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Jim Sagle]

7. Is this a great planet, or what?

[Resistance]

8. depends on one's perspective really

glad you're enjoying it though.

[Jim Sagle]

11. I'll enjoy it a lot more when w is out of office.

[Offshore Bush]

14. How is John Kerry's position on Israel different from George Bush's?

I don't think this is an issue for the election, so I'm curious as to why you mentioned Kerry. I thought both Bush and Kerry were consistently pro-Israeli.

[Jim Sagle]

17. Israel is not the only issue.

[Offshore Bush]

18. So why will you enjoy

Israel's attempts at defense more when Kerry is president? Or am I misinterpeting you because of that deleted post which makes it hard for me to know what you were talking about.

And do you find Bush's policy towards Israel satisfactory?

[Jim Sagle]

19. I just told you - Israel is not the only issue.

[Offshore Bush]

20. Oh.

On a similar note, do you view the war in Iraq as part of the Israel issue since Iraq has threatened Israel's existence in the past?

[rdfi-defi]

15. if you like excessive use of violence

[Jim Sagle]

16. I don't - on either side. And no, I don't agree with Dersh on torture.

[Herschel]

9. Would this boy have been better off

being strapped to bombs and offered for detonation? I think you know the answer.

[redqueen]

10. All these ugly responses

Why would they fire rubber bullets? If they were demonstrating, what's the problem?

I know I don't feel it's appropriate when the US uses these kinds of tactics on demonstrators here. Why is it considered appropriate there?

[tinnypriv]

12. Bear in mind

"Rubber bullet" actually equals "Rubber-encased steel bullet"

[redqueen]

13. *sigh*

Thanks for explaining that euphemism. :(

[AJPME]

21. "plastic bullets"

The same goes for "plastic bullets" which are actually plastic coated steel bullets.

[Lithos]

22. Rubber and plastic bullets

Can be an effective deterrent in low intensity battles. Provided they are used appropriately.

That said, it also requires specialized training in their use which apparently has not obviously occured given the preference to utilizing rubber bullets to tear gas which is probably the most effective means of crowd control.

Sort of like the old economists story about seat belts making people feel safer and more likely to take risks in a car, the myth of the non-lethality of rubber bullets seems likely to have increased the prevalence in their use.

L-

[tinnypriv]

23. Specialised training

Apparently is given - sniper training. That explains the huge number of eye injuries on the Palestinian side (seems to be a game for the soldiers involved).

Also, the reason for the use of the rubber-steel bullets is very often not because of "low-intensity" battles, but merely the fact that a political demonstration is taking place.

The IDF likes to disperse them for reasons of intimidation.

That is the reason for the "prevalence" of their use in this specific instance. Compared to Israel, even states like South Korea and Indonesia which are not known for their tact in tackling political protests do not use live (or nearly live) fire with such regularity. Nor does Israel use such tactics when trying to "deter" violent demonstrations within Israel.

The difference here is that the dogs in the occupied territories must be assumed to be a tougher breed.

That's the reason for the "million+ bullets" fired in the first weeks of the Palestinian Intifada II (overwhelmingly non-violent, as in the past, and even "violent" ones were still no threat to the IDF troops nearby, as conceeded).

Despite the above, I'll conceed that perhaps given the extreme cycle of violence, these tactics do have a place in controlling the occupied territories. Maybe they're even legitimate.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

24. I don't get it.

First people criticize Palestinians for being violent. Then when they decide to peacefully protest as we do in this country and are abused abused on top of that. People defend Israeli aggression and even make jokes about it. There sure are some sick fucks lurking around here.