<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[American made tear gas in Cairo and the West Bank | Joseph&nbsp;Dana]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div class="post-content clear-block">
<p>People in the street confronting police and army soldiers with  revolutionary aspirations. Some youth throw stones in symbolic acts of  resistance as the elders try to calm down their rage and focus on chants  of unity. Armed forces reply with tear gas and rubber-coated steel  bullets. This is a regular occurrence in the West Bank in villages like  Nabi Saleh, Ni’ilin and Beit Umar.  Over the past week, it has been  unfolding on the streets of Cairo, Suez and Alexandria as well. From  Ni’ilin to Cairo, the tear gas that is being employed against  demonstrations is made in the United States. The story of American made  tear gas in Egypt has recently entered the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/egypt-protest-police-us-made-tear-gas-demonstrators/story?id=12785598" target="_blank">chaotic international news cycle</a> to the dismay of the American government. But journalists have been  focusing only on the fact that the tear gas is supplied by the United  States.</p>
<div id="attachment_2173" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width:310px;"><a href="http://josephdana.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/NS-injured-17.12.2010.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-2173 " title="Demonstrator Moments After Being Hit Directly with a Tear Gas Projectile. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana/popularstruggle.org" src="https://i0.wp.com/josephdana.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/NS-injured-17.12.2010-300x199.jpg" alt="Demonstrator Moments After Being Hit Directly with a Tear Gas Projectile. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana/popularstruggle.org" width="300" height="199" /></a></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Demonstrator Moments After Being Hit Directly with a Tear Gas Projectile. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana/popularstruggle.org</p>
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<p>Standard aluminum tear canisters, which are being used in Egypt, have  injured thousands in the West Bank over the past eight years of  demonstrations against the Separation Barrier. Soldiers regularly break  army regulations and fire canisters directly at protesters– turning the  canister into a large bullet– and almost never face punishment. Three  weeks ago, a soldier fired a tear gas canister directly at me from a  distance of 15 meters in Beit Ummar. Luckily I was able to get out of  the way. Last summer, an American Jew was not as lucky as me and lost  her eye in a demonstration when a tear gas canister was fired directly  at her head. The soldier who fired the canister was <a href="http://popularstruggle.org/content/police-exonerate-israeli-officer-who-shot-canister-hit-us-activists-eye" target="_blank">cleared</a> of any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>According to international coverage of the demonstrations in Egypt,  there has been little coverage of police or army using tear gas  canisters as large bullets. As the demonstrations slow down, more  evidence could emerge that tear gas canisters were used offensively as  they are used in the West Bank. However, it seems unlikely given the  fact that there have been almost no reports about this to come out of  Egypt in the past seven days.</p>
<p>The United States provides countries all over the world with military  products with little regard of how the products are used. When it comes  to tear gas, the issue is not that the United States is providing  Israel and Egypt with the tear gas. The issue is how the gas is used and  who it is used against. It is legitimate for a state to use tear gas in  crowd control situations. It is not legitimate to use tear gas  canisters as large bullets with the intention to kill or injure  protesters.</p>
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