Israel Matzav

The skunk bomb

Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.

The person who posted this Fox News report on LiveLeak is one of the most anti-Israel people who posts there and he had no clue what he was posting (he decided this was Gaza). The reporter, Reena Ninan (whom I have lauded in the past) thought that what was being shot at them was tear gas. In fact, it was not. This is from the 'weekly protest' against the 'security fence' at Bil'in - near Modiin and Kiryat Sefer - on Friday.

Let's go to the videotape and then I'll show you what really happened.



What really happened was that the IDF used the skunk bomb that has been developed here to disperse demonstrations. This was the first time in six months that it's been used, and I believe that it's the first time that the foreign media has gotten it on camera.

The "skunk bomb" is a foul-smelling liquid which is sprayed on the protesters. "The smell is so strong that people flee immediately," explained an IDF source, noting that the demonstration on Friday was dispersed within minutes of firing the bomb into the crowd.

On Friday, IDF and Border Police forces used the spray against close to 100 Palestinian, Israeli and foreign demonstrators near the West Bank village of Bil'in. The demonstrators were protesting against the construction of the security barrier nearby. The "skunk bomb" was last used in January.

I don't understand why the IDF doesn't use it more often.

Since the beginning of the year, over 100 IDF soldiers and Border policemen have been injured, some of them seriously, during the anti-fence demonstrations.

As soon as they start to vandalize the fence or otherwise act violently, the skunk bomb ought to be brought out. But maybe this is why they hold off on using it.

IDF sources said that most of the demonstrators were surprisingly foreigners and Israelis, not Palestinians.

Maybe we ought to treat the foreign nut cases and our own (they're mostly anarchists) the same way we treat the 'Palestinians.'

On Thursday, the media reported that there has been almost no progress on the 'fence' in the past 15 months. That's partly because of the demonstrators and partly because the 'Supreme Court' keeps forcing the IDF to change the route. We're hoping to change the court through the judicial selection process. And the skunk bomb is apparently an effective way to deal with the demonstrators that ought to be used more often.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:04 PM