Intifada Diary: Ten Years After
December 1987 onwards
"'Abdo: The use of teargas and nerve gas"
Tear gas was another thing that got 'better'. People adapted to the first gas really quickly. You used to pick up the cannisters after everything was over, out of curiosity. They were new, with "Made in USA" written on them. They had production dates on them that would say, for example, "6th April 1988" and here they were being used on 10th April 1988 in the West Bank. We were getting the newest and best quality stuff!

They also used smoke grenades, grenades that started fire when you threw them, and even some that released a kind of gas we called ghaz 'aasad ("nerve gas") that had orange or red coloured smoke when they were thrown. If you inhaled it you would get hysterical and you would have to be taken to the hospital. Nothing would stop it. The effect was incredible. You would suddenly find yourself starting to panic for no apprent reason. Everyone around would start to panic and experience extreme confusion.

During one of the demonstrations in our village, the soldiers were having a really hard time breaking it up. They summoned a helicopter which began to drop these strange bouncing gas bombs which make it impossible to breathe.

The best way to deal with these things was to quickly bury them in sand or put them in a bucket of water. Obviously, it's a lot more difficult to get hold of something that's leaping around on the ground. The best time to grab them is as they land. So, you watch them throwing them from the helicopter, and tear off towards them as they fall towards the ground. This one helicopter dropped one, I ran towards the place where it looked like it was going to fall.

As I arrived, I suddenly realised that they were dropping stones. It took us a minute to work out what was happening. We stupidly relaxed for a minute and then the actual bombs came down. The stones had been a decoy. Four or five of us got really screwed. It became necessary for others to come and carry us away from the place before we were able to breathe again!


    Nigel Parry writes:

    From the list in the right column of fatalities resulting from teargas during the first year of the Intifada, it is clear that babies, young children, and old people are particularly suceptable. In addition, teargas can be fatal when used in enclosed spaces and when the cannisters are fired directly at people. Teargas is still widely used today:

  • Check out the specifications on a standard teargas used here, courtesy of Federal Laboratories, a division of Mace Security International in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. Mace's website intro describes its product as "less lethal", an interesting admission. Their headquarters, pictured on their website, even looks like Dracula's tower. Note the specs relating to 'outdoor use'. Instructions printed on the side of each 560 CS cannister include reminders to users of Mace's product. As you read them, note the numbers in brackets which referring to those killed by teargas in the right-hand column, only including cases where it is clear what happened.

    • For Outdoor Use Only (cases # 6, 11, 15, 19, 23, 26, 34, 35, 36, 38, 43, 46, 48, 49, 53, 55, 59, 64, 65 and 67.)
    • Do Not Fire Directly at Persons as Serious Injury or Death May Result (cases #: 2, 23 and 56.)
    • Do Not Use Where Possibility of Fire Exists (case # 32 and why not add the 17 other cases where cannisters were fired into homes?)
    • Do Not Use in Confined Areas (same as first point, I would have thought, in case it wasn't clear enough to military types.)


    I e-mailed the right-hand column list to Mace Security International via their website, on 9 December 1997, the tenth anniversary of the Intifada. For your entertainment, here is the text of my e-mail:

    Q: Please mail me more information about:

    A: Your company policy with reference to continuing to supply clients who repeatedly misuse your products.

    Q: May we ask how you heard of our web site?

    A: I found it after an excessive teargassing by Israeli troops in 1997 in the West Bank motivated me to do a search for you on the Internet. I am a journalist.

    Q: Do you have any comments about, or suggestions or information you would like to see included in our website?

    A: Yes, on the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada, how about this: [full list of first year fatalities followed]

  • I have witnessed Israeli soldiers using teargas many times, including in narrow streets and near homes. Check out the three-part Personal Diary entry from Wednesday 26 March 1997 for an explanation of how teargas works in reality.

  • If you don't believe me (!), see the 4th April 1997 journal entry by Michael O'Neill, who was also here during the same clashes involving Birzeit students. He also describes the general use of teargas in Bethlehem in another of his journal entries from 20 March 1997.

Above: A teargas cannister, from the archives of the United Nations Relief and Works Association in Gaza, August 1989. Photo by Nigel Parry.


LIST OF PALESTINIANS WHO DIED FROM THE IMPROPER USE OF TEARGAS DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF THE INTIFADA
  1. Fatmeh al-Qidri, 1 day old, Gaza, premature birth from teargas, 87/12/9
  2. Najwa Masri, 18, Gaza, hit by teargas cannisters while helping dying youth, 87/12/15
  3. Khalil Mahsiri, 76, Ramallah, teargassed after mosque prayers, 87/12/18
  4. Khaled al-Kidreh, 14 days old, Gaza, teargassed, 87/12/23
  5. Amal Qseisa, 5 days old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 87/12/23
  6. Raed Obeid, 3 months old, Gaza, teargassed in home, 88/1/1
  7. Mariam Zahir, 81, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/1/2
  8. Wijdan Faress and unborn fetus, 38, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/1/10
  9. Amira Askar, 35, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/1/11
  10. Fayrooz Shobaki, 11, Ramallah, circumstances unknown, 88/1/13
  11. Mohammed Tubbaza, 17, Gaza, teargassed at mosque, then beaten, 88/1/14
  12. Mohammed Shahin, 75 days old, circumstances unknown, 88/1/14
  13. Imad Abu Asi, 14 days old/15 days old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/1/14
  14. Samer Badha, 5 months old, Ramallah, circumstances unknown, 88/1/14
  15. Amneh Darwish, 72, Gaza, teargassed in home, 88/1/15
  16. Abdul Fattah Miskawi, 2 months old, Tulkarem, circumstances unknown, 88/1/16
  17. Haitham Shqeiro, 4 months old, Tulkarem, circumstances unknown, 88/1/16
  18. Fatima Salman, 57, Bethlehem, circumstances unknown, 88/1/23
  19. Arafat Rous, 6 months old, Gaza, teargassed in home, 88/2/17
  20. Rana Mahmud Adwan, 3 months old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/2/17
  21. Ahmad Sahiyeh, 64/65, Nablus, hit by teargas and rubber bullets by his shop, 88/2/21
  22. Ranin Sfeir, 3 months old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/2/21
  23. Fuad Sha'rawi, 48, Hebron, teargas dropped into mosque by helicopter, hit in head, 88/2/26
  24. Salman Daher, 63, Tulkarem, circumstances unknown, 88/3/2
  25. Khitam 'Araam, 8 years old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/3/3
  26. Salim Amer, 10 months old, Gaza, teargassed in home, 88/3/7
  27. Salahaddin Naqib, 33, Nablus, circumstances unknown, 88/3/7
  28. Khaled Hawajreh, 2.5 months old, Gaza, teargassed under curfew, 88/3/8
  29. Shirin Elayan, 4 months old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/3/8
  30. Yusuf Hassouna, 3 months old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/3/8
  31. Sanaar Ebeid, 40 days old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/3/9
  32. Mohammed Skafi, 4 years old, Gaza, teargas into house ignited stove, boy died from burns, 88/3/12
  33. Yahia al-Maghrabi, 2 months old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/3/15 / 88/3/13
  34. Juma' Ibrahim al-Tukhi, 66, Ramallah, teargassed in mosque, 88/3/16
  35. Salim al-Yahia, 60, Tulkarem, teargassed in house, 88/3/16
  36. Mustafa Froukh, 68, Gaza, teargassed in home, army refused transfer to hospital, 88/3/18
  37. Ali Hajjar, 70, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/3/18
  38. Ola Sharifa, 4 months old, Gaza, teargassed in home, 88/3/19
  39. Hussein Iqmeil, 70, Jenin, circumstances unknown, 88/3/21
  40. Nabila Ali Yajizi, 30, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/3/26
  41. Shirin Maniarawi, 1 month old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/3/29
  42. Hamid Asmadi, 20 days old, Jenin, circumstances unknown, 88/3/29 / 88/4/2
  43. Rajab Slaibi, 75, Gaza, teargassed in home, 88/4/4
  44. Subhiyeh Mankush, 60, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/4/9
  45. Hassan Mahmud Qaud, 22, Gaza, teargas from helicopter, 88/4/12
  46. Wadfa Faraj Allah, 70, Gaza, teargassed in house, 88/4/13
  47. Farid Tawfiq Amarneh, 11, Jenin, teargas caused nerve paralysis, 88/4/17
  48. Jamal Alqam, 3 days old, Jerusalem, teargassed in home, 88/4/17
  49. Ismail Abu Shaikh, 50, Tulkarem, teargassed in home, had cancer, 88/4/20
  50. Mohammed Musa Hamad, 30, Ramallah, died in prison after he was teargassed, 88/4/23
  51. Naima Mohammed Ali, 55, Hebron, circumstances unknown, 88/4/24
  52. Mohammed Samhan, 52, Ramallah, circumstances unknown, 88/4/24
  53. Khaled Hasan Najar, 55, Gaza, teargassed in house, 88/5/4
  54. Dina as-Sawafri, 3 years old, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/5/27
  55. Maissa Jaffal, 40 days old, Hebron, teargassed in room, 88/6/8
  56. Abdullah Mubarak, 28, Bethlehem, hit by teargas cannister, 88/6/8
  57. Tawfiq Malamha, 55, Jenin, circumstances unknown, 88/6/30
  58. Mohammed Sha'abilo, 35, Nablus, teargassed in town, heart condition, 88/6/30
  59. Thaer Badr, 25 days old, Gaza, teargassed in home, 88/7/24
  60. Ansar Heju, 65, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/8/16
  61. Ghalia Abdul Nabi, 31, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/8/21
  62. Ala' Abu Ful, 12, Gaza, circumstances unknown, 88/8/23
  63. Khalil Ba'alushi, 42/52, Gaza, heart attack after teargas, 88/8/23 / 88/8/22
  64. Mohammed Aza, 2 years old, Ramallah, teargassed in home, 88/9/7
  65. Nasreen Nawajhah, 3 years old, Gaza, teargassed in home, autopsy showed Down's Syndrome and heart defect, 88/10/14 / 88/10/26
  66. Qawqar Arrar, 17, Triangle, teargassed, had heart defect, 88/10/15
  67. Ibrahim Hamideh, 70/80, Jenin, teargassed in home during army raid, 88/12/3

    Source: The Palestinian Uprising, FACTS Information Committee in Jerusalem, Edited by Samir Abed Rabbo and Doris Safie, Published by the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, Inc., 1990, ISBN 0-937694-87-8.
    Note: Additional/different material in bold from Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising Against Israeli Occupation, Edited by Zachary Lockman and Joel Beinin, MERIP, South End Press, 1989, ISBN 0-89608-363-2. Material in italic only from first source.


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