srael – The IDF stepped up efforts to quell violent anti-security barrier demonstrations in the West Bank over the weekend, using, for the first time in six months, the “skunk bomb.”
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“The smell is so strong that people flee immediately,” explained an IDF source, noting that the demonstration was dispersed within minutes of firing the bomb into the crowd.
On Friday, IDF and Border Police forces used the spray against nearly 100 Palestinian, Israeli and foreign demonstrators near the village of Bil’in, east of Modi’in Illit. They were protesting against the construction of the security barrier nearby. The skunk bomb was last used in January.
Some 300 people participated in another demonstration at Na’alin on Friday, causing serious damage to the barrier and throwing Molotov cocktails and stones at security personnel.
A top officer in the Central Command said on Friday that Col. Aviv Reshef, commander of the Binyamin Brigade, recently met with Palestinian leaders from Bil’in and Na’alin and urged them to restrain the rioters.
“We do not have a problem with them demonstrating peacefully against the fence, but we will not allow the demonstrators to damage or vandalize it,” the officer said, adding that the decision to use the skunk bomb was taken as part of a new effort by the IDF to minimize friction between the security forces and the demonstrators as much as possible.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 100 soldiers and border policemen have been wounded, some of them seriously, during the anti-fence demonstrations.
IDF sources said most of the demonstrators were foreigners and Israelis, not Palestinians. On April 17, a protester from Bil’in, Bassam Ibrahim Abu Rahma, died after he was hit in the chest by a tear gas canister.
The police should use this bomb against the demonstrators at the parking lot to disperse them and avoid any serious injuries. These types of non-lethal weapons will save lives of both the police and chareidim and could avoid the need for the police to drag the bochurim off to jail each shabbos for blocking the streets and breaking the law.
will they use it in meah shearim as well?
It there any halacha that says it is assur for the plice to use these weapons against demonstrators on shabbos in lieu of conentional wepaons. Haveing the chraieidim smell like this would probaby make them forget abou their fixation on chillul shabbos.
There can be no comparison between these “demonstrations” and those in meah she’arim. These people are throwing rocks and firebombs with the intent of injuring or killing the soldiers. And it’s not in self-defense either. Nor is it just a handful of wild boys among thousands of peaceful demonstrators. And of course the “cause” they’re demonstrating for — essentially for the right of Arabs to blow up Jews — is not at all comparable to shabbos.
A firebomb is a deadly weapon, and a soldier seeing someone at one of these events with one in his hands ought to be authorised to shoot him.
“A firebomb is a deadly weapon”.
So is a rock.
there really dummy canisters with no smell at all its just the palestinians start getting nervous when they see the canisters producing the …………
sunk bomb is way of getting people to go away with out having someone hurt. all they need is a media pic to b taken of a arab person all bloodey and only printing half a story. sunk bomb allows the army to get the demenstors to leave without anyone getting hurt.
This is something!
Equating the arabs to the Mesires nefeshdig bocurim and yungeleit who protest against Chilul Shabos in the holy city of yerusalayim.
Even worse, the posters equating the two are suposedly frum jews? What a disgrace.
before you know it the protesters will don masks.