Ex-Cal tree-sitter hurt in West Bank protest

Started by garbon, March 13, 2009, 06:04:30 PM

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garbon

In a moment of "Where Are They Now..."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/13/BAQ316F0PT.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

QuoteAn Oakland man who was among the tree-sitters who fought to save a grove of oaks and redwoods next to UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium was critically wounded in the West Bank today by an Israeli-fired tear-gas canister, officials and acquaintances said.

Tristan Anderson, 38, was injured during a protest over the separation barrier that Israel erected between it and the West Bank. An Israeli soldier fired the canister during a clash with protesters and hit Anderson in the head, said Ulrika Jenson of Sweden, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement.

Jenson, who saw the incident, said in a statement released by the group that "the Israeli soldiers were standing on the hill looking over us, firing tear-gas canisters straight into the crowd."

"Tristan was hit and fell to the ground," Jenson said. "He had a large hole in the front of his head. I tried to stop the bleeding, but he was bleeding heavily from the head, nose and mouth."

Anderson underwent brain surgery at Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv and was in the intensive care unit, Woody Berch, who works in civil-rights law in Israel, said after visiting the hospital.

Orly Levi, a hospital spokeswoman, told the Associated Press that Anderson's condition was "life-threatening."

Paul Larudee, co-founder of the Berkeley chapter of the International Solidarity Movement, said, "He's really touch-and-go. He's hanging from a thread."

Anderson's girlfriend Gabrielle Silverman, 25, was keeping a vigil at the hospital, group members said.

Anderson and Silverman were among those arrested during the 21-month-long tree-sitting protest at UC Berkeley over the university's plan to cut down a grove to build an athletic training center. The standoff ended in September and the university cut down the trees.

The couple went to Israel because they are "concerned about human-rights violations," Larudee said. "They are involved in defending human rights in many different places. They just felt compelled to do that in Palestine."

The protest took place in the West Bank town of Naalin, where Palestinians and international backers frequently gather to demonstrate against the barrier.

Israel says the barrier is necessary to keep Palestinian attackers from infiltrating into Israel. But Palestinians view it as a land grab because it juts into the West Bank at multiple points.

The military says the area where the protests take place is a closed military zone off-limits to demonstrations.[/quote[
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."

I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Neil

I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

Weatherman


derspiess

Both the trees and the terrorists lost a good friend :(
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

garbon

"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."

I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

derspiess

Quote from: garbon on March 13, 2009, 06:33:26 PM
Quote from: derspiess on March 13, 2009, 06:31:08 PM
Both the trees and the terrorists lost a good friend :(

He's not dead yet. :contract:

Well if he survives a "large hole in the front of his head", more power to him :D
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

garbon

Quote from: derspiess on March 13, 2009, 06:39:22 PM
Well if he survives a "large hole in the front of his head", more power to him :D

There's a photo of him in that link (all bloody and on a stretcher). I wonder where the hole actually is.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."

I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Evil Spock


Caliga

He never used to be me.  Stop misrepresentin' dude >:(
0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

Grinning_Colossus

Quis futuit ipsos fututores?

Grinning_Colossus

Anyway, I hope he survives. I lived right next to Memorial Stadium when they were supposed to start construction, and that would have been frickin' loud.
Quis futuit ipsos fututores?

DisturbedPervert

Quote from: Grinning_Colossus on March 13, 2009, 10:29:52 PM
Anyway, I hope he survives. I lived right next to Memorial Stadium when they were supposed to start construction, and that would have been frickin' loud.

???

Who are you?  You went to Berkeley? 

garbon

Quote from: DisturbedPervert on March 13, 2009, 11:33:51 PM
Quote from: Grinning_Colossus on March 13, 2009, 10:29:52 PM
Anyway, I hope he survives. I lived right next to Memorial Stadium when they were supposed to start construction, and that would have been frickin' loud.

???

Who are you?  You went to Berkeley? 

Great. Another person who went to Camp Couldn't Hack It At Stanford.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."

I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Benedict Arnold

Better watch out Israel, this might have roused the Ents from their long slumber and convinced them to go to war... :o

DisturbedPervert

Quote from: garbon on March 13, 2009, 11:40:02 PM
Great. Another person who went to Camp Couldn't Hack It At Stanford.

:D

Kinda true in a way.  Met lots of people who applied to Stanford and didn't get in.  Not as many the other way around.  Though once in Cal I think is much more hard core with grades than just about any school in the country.