Critically-injured American peace activist, Tristan Anderson, moved into Rehab

Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

Wednesday May 27, 2009 11:01 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Tristan Anderson, who was critically wounded by a high-velocity tear gas canister fired at his head by the Israeli terrorist forces in March, has been moved from the intensive care unit of the Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv into a Rehabilitation Center at the hospital.

Anderson, a 37-year old peace activist from California, was participating in a non-violent demonstration against the Israeli Annexation, Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall in the Palestinian village of Bil'in when he was shot in the head. He was taken to an Israeli hospital, where his girlfriend and parents have stayed by his side for the past two months while he remained in critical condition.

Now, according to one of Anderson's friends, he has been moved into the Rehabilitation section of the hospital, where he has begun to undergo speech therapy. His friend added, “Unfortunately, because of a brain fluid (csf) leak that he developed, he is often too tired to fully participate. Surgery is planned for the future to repair the leak and reconstruct his skull. “

Since Anderson was injured on March 13th, one peace activist has been killed, and two more have been critically injured by the high-velocity tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces directly at Palestinian protesters. The Israeli forces regularly use the tear gas canisters as weapons, according to multiple human rights groups and international observers, as well as Palestinian witnesses and participants in the weekly non-violent demonstrations.

On April 17th, Bassem Abu Rahma, 29, was shot directly in the chest by a tear gas canister fired at close range by an Israeli soldier, and killed. Bassem Abu Rahme was the 18th individual to be killed by Israeli forces during a demonstration against the Wall.

Abu Rahma was shot by the same type of tear-gas projectile, labeled “40 mm bullet, special/long range” and shaped like a large bullet, that critically injured Tristan Anderson in March. These specialized tear gas projectiles are produced in Israel, and tested on non-violent demonstrators in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank.

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