Last week, July 17, an Associated Press photographer was seriously injured in Beit Ommar during the weekly demonstration against the settlement when a sound grenade exploded near his head, blowing out his eardrum. A strong statement by the Foreign Press Association was made and Israeli and international media reported on the incident. Yet all of this attention to the misuse of these dangerous weapons did not deter the large group of soldiers present at this week’s demonstration from again launching sound grenades, as well as tear gas, directly at demonstrators, particularly aiming at their heads.
As the group of approximately 50 demonstrators, including several women from the village for the third week in a row, were met by the Israeli soldiers who demanded they leave the privately-owned Palestinian land or risk arrest, the soldiers again injured a journalist, this time from Reuters, who was knocked unconscious after having two sound grenades explode on his head and back while the soldiers were attempting to push the group out of the area. The journalist was assisted at the scene and no arrests were made.