Unarmed Norwegian Peace Activist Shot Twice In One Week By Israeli Forces

A Norwegian Palestine-solidarity activist has been shot twice in one week by Israeli soldiers using rubber-coated steel bullets.

Kristin Foss said she was at protests when soldiers shot her on two different occasions

The first time she was shot she was standing with her hands raised, and the second time while she was standing against a wall.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested an explanation from Israeli authorities.

RT reports: Foss was standing still with her hands raised when she was shot in Kafr Qaddum during a weekly demonstration last Saturday. Video taken by Foss captures the moment she was hit.

Foss and another activist were walking with an elderly Palestinian man who asked them to help him get back to his car which the soldiers were using as a shield. International activists often attend Palestinian protests in a bid to discourage Israelis from using excessive force.

The man was talking to the soldiers and Foss and the other activist were filming from a distance. A soldier tells Foss it is dangerous and she responds: “It’s dangerous that you’re pointing a gun at us,” as a shot is fired. Seconds later, another shot is heard and Foss is hit in the abdomen.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last week it had asked the Israeli authorities to explain the circumstances, VG reports.

Foss, who is an International Solidarity Movement volunteer, returned to the village the next Friday to support demonstrators. The weekly protests at Kafr Qaddum are to demonstrate against the closure of a road which has been closed to Palestinians for seven years, forcing them to travel more than 14 km (9 miles) to reach the regional capital of Nablus.

In a video, filmed before she was shot, she said that although the demonstrations had not started, the IDF had already “invaded the town.”

Foss was leaning against a wall “well behind” the demonstrations when she was shot in the ankle by a rubber bullet, she told RT.

When she was in an ambulance with another man who had been shot in the shoulder, they had to turn back after another person was shot in the head.

An IDF spokesperson told RT that the protests were “violent riots” and “Palestinians threw stones at IDF soldiers and burned tires.”

“The foreign national mentioned in the article, in both incidents, stood amongst the rioters whilst they carried out violence against the security forces,” the spokesperson said. “The claims regarding alleged harm to uninvolved people by riot dispersal means, will be investigated and the findings will be examined by the Military Advocate General’s Office.”

Activist Nirit Haviv told Haaretz she asked one of the soldiers why they had shot a woman last week. According to Haviv, the soldier said, “What are you talking about, we don’t shoot women unless she was standing next to the primary inciter.”

While rubber-coated steel bullets are seen as non lethal, the injuries they inflict can be catastrophic, particularly when fired at close range.

“Thousands of Palestinians have been shot this year alone. By rubber coated steel bullets and by live ammunition.” Foss said in a statement. “Palestinians get shot for the crime of demonstrating for their basic human rights—or simply for the ‘crime of being born Palestinian’. Whilst my case have been blown up in media, theirs go unnoticed.”