Eyewitness account: How Emily lost an eye
'The police fired a tear gas grenade, and then another and another. I remember that what surprised me was the volley of grenade-fire directly aimed directly at the demonstrators, not at the sky.'
By Avi IssacharoffLast Monday at approximately 11:10 A.M., photographer Daniel Bar-On and I were heading to the Qalandiyah crossing to cover a demonstration in Ramallah's Manara Square to protest the raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla and support Turkey.
Right after we passed the crossing, we saw a group of Border Police that arrived in a rush. Some youths threw stones at the army position at the crossing.
Nearby were several dozen demonstrators who raised many flags; the Lebanese one sticks in my mind. Daniel got out of the car and began taking photographs and I looked on - fairly bored, to be honest - at yet another meaningless confrontation between Palestinians and police.
The police fired a tear gas grenade, and then another and another. I remember that what surprised me was the volley of grenade-fire directly aimed directly at the demonstrators, not at the sky.
After the fourth grenade, if I am not mistaken, a shout was heard about 100 meters away.
All the photographers began running in that direction. Someone was moving a young woman away from the melee. Daniel captured the injury of that woman, who we realized only afterward was Emily Henochowicz. Her eye was bleeding badly. She was taken by a Red Crescent ambulance.
We went on to Ramallah, where it was a lot calmer. On the way to Manara we learned that the young woman had lost her eye. All because she had raised a flag.
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Emily Henochowicz after losing an eye at a protest at the Qalandiyah checkpoint − she was struck by a teargas grenade. |
| Photo by: Daniel Bar-On |
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Not every police officer in the world - including Israeli police officers - is a mensch. Some over react. Some like the fact that they have power and feel they've been given a free pass to use it. This might possibly be one of those situations.
No exactly. Participation in violent confrontations to many young people is heady, romantic, and fun. It does not even matter, often, what the issue is or how one feels about it. It is all about the adolescent challenge to authority. Problem is, it has the potential for personal harm, even though many participants consider it safe, trusting the restraint of the IDF. But accidents happen. It is good to see this young lady accepted her responsibility. Most do not.
A Hamas flag? A Fatah flag? One thing is certain is that it was not an Israeli flag. A Jewish American comes to Israel puportedly to study and probably under the influence of the left wing students there and decides to support the opponents of the State, Such inappropriate acts have consequences.
Just like every other citizen. The only "inapproprisate act" here was the soldier firing the teargas cannister directly at a human being, in obvious violation of the regulations.
israel very dangerous place.there is no life quarantee.police may kill everybody
...raised there, isn't it the case? And I am certain, none of them was an Israeli flag, the one that represents the country that allowed this woman to come into the country and demonstrate lawfully... but lawfully and not under such slogans as "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free", in essence calling for the elimination of the tiny Jewish state of Israel.
If this was you who saw this and now you're reporting it, you may not be safe. How is the army supposed to avoid responsibility if a Jew (besides the Jew the army shot) is reporting on it? Thank you for speaking out, though.
No matter who, I am truly sorry this young woman lost an eye in this clash.... My heart, and prayers will go out to her and her family as I know this will be a difficult period for them.
perhaps she should not have been with a group of people that are known for riotous events!
The PLO flag, the Lebanese flag, or the Turkish flag?
There needs to be an immediate inquiry into why the Israeli soldiers fired directly at peaceful demonstrators, when they know perfectly it's extremely dangerous. A Swedish peace activist was almost killed the same way some months ago. The vision of Israeli soldiers shooting in the face of a young Jewish woman is an abomination, the perpetrators of that hideous crime must be severely sentenced and sent to prison. Israel cannot give the impression its soldiers want to kill peaceful young women. The most extreme severity must be applied to the perpetrators who knew what they were doing. Impunity is not going to be acceptable.
The Border Police have been told not to fire tear gas directly at protesters, and the Israeli propagandists insist that the Border Police do no such thing. Yet here is a reporter telling you that they fire volley after volley directly at the protesters. That's a crime - a serious crime - and someone should go to jail for this.
This borderpatrol unit should be brought to justice for willful mutilation.
This young woman, apparently Jewish by birth, comes all the way from Maryland to support a Palelstinian riot in defense of a Turkish attempt to permit the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. She does not live in a border area and run from incoming Kassam rockets, nor does she serve in the Israeli Defense Forces and she is telling us what to do. She came to Israel looking for trouble and she found it.
In other reports about the tragedy, witnesses pointed out that Henochowicz was standing away from the stone throwing protestors. And that the young girl seems to have been the target of several cannnisters, directly aimed at her, a real crossfire. While Issacharoff and Bar-On provide valuable info about the questionable way the canisters were dispersed, by shooting directly which is most probably against the regulations, they can't say anything specific about how Henochowicz was injured. Couldn't they find anyone who was standing closer and who could add the missing informations?
why is she aligning herself with the types of people we know (israel-haters and anti-semites) arrange and attend these "protests"? it's a dangerous event to take part in, as these "protestors" are hardly the MLK variety. her lost eye is the consequence of her own naivety/ignorance. all the best to her, but still, it's more than likely her own fault for taking part in one of these "protests" which was more than likely another hostile hate-fest. i don't know how someone can maintain their own zionist credibility and associate with these types of "free gaza" movements, considering the types of people that these events attract.
It breaks my heart to see the suffering imposed on Emily and Rachel. What was their fault? Only that they wanted themselves and their neighbors to live in peace and security?
She is Jewish and defends HAMAS; the flotilla to Gaza. And now she cries Wolf. Of course it is sad. But she asked for trouble.
The IDF is all about hate and contempt at anything /anyone non jewish. They have utmost disregard for the lives of Palestinians and consider a Palestinian is a fair game even if it was just the mere act of raising a flag. Emily an american jew, paid a heavy price for her solidarity. It is a sad sad story. I wish her well. The soldiers who were firing must be go to trial.
Issacharoff admits that. Stones can take out an eye too. Henochowicz openly sided with Israel's enemies- her nation's enemies. She was repaid measure for measure.
and do they ever get hit with grenades, or rubber bullets, or teargas? NOPE...just maybe a light slap on the wrist politely telling them to "stop please."
IDF says grenades were not fired directly at crowd. Eyewitness says they were. A person is maimed for life. Does anybody care about justice, or just the army's and state's reputation?