 Israel uses skunk to disperse protestors
Al-Qods, 2008 Aug 18, QodsTV/Alalam
The occupying Israeli regime has started using a stinking noxious mix as its newest weapon to disperse West Bank demonstrators who protest against the apartheid wall which cuts off sliver of Palestinian lands.
The Israeli police refer to the stinking mixture as "skunk" which was used for the first time earlier this month and are reportedly using more frequently since.
A truck-mounted cannon sprays it over the heads of protestors, sending them racing down the hillside, retching and tearing off their shirts to try to escape the stench.
Dozens of Palestinians from the village of Bilin, along with international and Israeli activists, had marched to a nearby segment of the wall to demand its removal, just as they have done every Friday for the last three and a half years.
The Israeli border police called on them to disperse through loudspeakers, warning them they were near a "closed military zone."
Then the skunk truck arrived, spraying a cloud of yellow mist and filling the air with the suffocating stench of faeces and urine.
The Israeli regime`s police say "skunk" is more effective at dispersing crowds than tear gas or the more lethal rubber-coated bullets.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld believes the use of skunk is "the start of a change in tactics in dealing with crowd control."
Rosenfeld would not say what exactly goes into the pungent mixture used last Friday but insisted it is not dangerous.
"It`s not a chemical, it is a smelling liquid. It doesn`t cause any harm or any physical damage whatsoever, even if it gets in people`s eyes."
The protestors were not so sure -- many suspected it was toilet water.
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