During the weekly demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Salah against the creeping annexation of their lands by the area settlements, the Israeli army imposed a particularly stinking collective punishment.

For several long minutes, soldiers emptied the containers of skunk water on houses in the centre of the village, also spraying the roofs of homes on which the residents collect rain water. The soldiers further sprayed the village cemetery with the skunk water. Israel’s massive use of tear gas and skunk water in the centre of the village was done with no intention of dispersing the demonstration, which had already ended by this time, but to stink up the homes of the residents and to contaminate their water sources.
Since January 2010 weekly demonstrations have been held in the village of Nabi Salah, located in the district of Ramallah, against attempts of the area settlers to take over the village land. From the onset, these demonstrations encountered particularly severe oppression by the Israeli army, including the massive use of tear gas, rubber coated bullets and occasionally live ammunition within the village.

Last Friday (18 February) the Israeli oppressive measures reached particularly smelly heights. After the army invaded the village, seven demonstrators were detained – 2 Palestinians, 4 Israelis and one international activist, all released many hours later. After several hours of shooting tear gas and rubber coated bullets within the village against the demonstrators and every person who wandered into the area, military reinforcements arrived from the village of Bil’in. Following the weekly demonstration in Bil’in, where Israel’s army also used skunk water against non-violent protesters, the skunk water truck made its way to Nabi Salah. Apparently because there remained large quantities of skunk water that the army didn’t manage to shoot at Bil’in demonstrators, the regional army commanders decided to use the extra liquid to collectively punish Nabi Salah demonstrators. After the demonstration had already finished, the skunk water truck entered the centre of the village and sprayed windows, walls and the roofs of homes. The truck also spewed its contents on the local cemetery.

Skunk water, the reeking liquid that is dispersed through water cannons, has served the Israeli army some two years already for dispersing demonstrations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The content of the skunk water, together with its long-term impacts, are not known, although its immediate impact is to cause nausea and headaches. Even after extensive washing of the affected area, whether clothing, skin or land, the stench continues for several days.

The strength of the remaining smell is so strong that in the past it caused a family in Nabi Salah to leave their home for an entire week. The impact of skunk water on sweet water used for drinking and watering is unknown. Spraying the skunk water on the village roofs, however, prevented the collection of rain water these past few days, which were amongst the rainiest of this winter.

Translated to English by the Alternative Information Center (AIC)

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