On Sunday evening, around seventy Israeli activists - as well as a few international ones - gathered in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv to show their solidarity with Tristan Anderson, currently lying unconscious and in serious condition at Tel HaShomer Hospital near Tel Aviv, and to express their outrage at his injury and the events surrounding it.
Upon arrival, everyone was quickly – and rather aggressively – herded by police officers into a small fenced-off “protest area”, which was surrounded on all sides by numerous soldiers of the Border Police.
The cardboard sign says "Murderer" in Hebrew, with an arrow pointing towards the closest Border Police soldier
Protesters, representing several organizations, held up signs in both Hebrew and English condemning the army’s standard practice of firing teargas, rubber coated steel bullets and at times live ammunition into Palestinian demonstrations as a means of dispersing them, as well as the general brutality and inhumanity of Israel’s military occupation. Among the slogans chanted were “we shall neither kill nor be killed in the name of Zionism”, “Soldier, murderer – the Intifada will win!” and “Tristan, Tristan, don’t despair, we shall end the occupation”.
The banner reads "Murderers in Uniform"
During the demonstration, people addressed the Border Police soldiers present directly, some angrily pointing out to them that they are personally responsible for the atrocities their units commit in Palestinian areas (it was Border Police soldiers who fired the teargas canister that hit Tristan), while others tried explaining to them the reasons why Palestinians are demonstrating in the first place, and urged them to "turn around, go [into the Ministry of Defense] and arrest the real criminals!”. Furthermore, the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Tristan Anderson (and their wider context, i.e the Palestinian struggle against the wall) were described over a megaphone, making sure everyone understands what the demonstration is about.
After approximately an hour and a half, the demonstration ended without incident.
