Ex-Cal tree-sitter hurt in West Bank protest

[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

An 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[

[Neil]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer asshole.

[Weatherman]

lol

[derspiess]

Both the trees and the terrorists lost a good friend

[garbon]

Both the trees and the terrorists lost a good friend

He's not dead yet.

[derspiess]

Both the trees and the terrorists lost a good friend

He's not dead yet.

Well if he survives a "large hole in the front of his head", more power to him

[garbon]

Well if he survives a "large hole in the front of his head", more power to him

There's a photo of him in that link (all bloody and on a stretcher). I wonder where the hole actually is.

[Evil Spock]

That's a shame. 

[Caliga]

He never used to be me.  Stop misrepresentin' dude >

[Grinning_Colossus]

Woody Berch

At least the trees remember their own.

[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.

[DisturbedPervert]

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]

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.

[Benedict Arnold]

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

[DisturbedPervert]

Great. Another person who went to Camp Couldn't Hack It At Stanford.

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.