Brian Avery (activist)

Brian Avery (born 1979) is a former volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), who was injured in the face on April 5, 2003 while working for the ISM in the West Bank town of Jenin.

It was reported that Avery, who is American, was "milling with young men throwing rocks at the Israel Defense Forces," while breaking curfew, and was wounded "by the debris thrown up by a warning shot near his feet." [1] Avery said the IDF shot him in the face. [2]

[Image:http://electronicintifada.net/artman/uploads/brianaverymn260.jpg]

Early life

Avery was born in Connecticut, the youngest of three children. His father is a former submarine commander in the U.S. Navy, and his mother a schoolteacher. [3] He attended school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and enrolled in the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to study music. He dropped out after a year to play in a rock band for two years, then worked on communal organic farms in North Carolina, France, Spain, and Portugal.

He lived for a year in a housing cooperative in Chicago, and later became associated with the Arab-Jewish Peace Alliance in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where came into contact with the ISM. [4] Shortly afterwards, in January 2003, he travelled to the West Bank to participate in ISM protests against Israel.

Shooting incident

In a February 2005 interview, he said:

[W]e weren't two blocks from our apartment when an Israeli convoy of two vehicles, a tank and an armored personnel carrier, drove up the street from the direction that we were walking from. And so as we heard them coming closer, we stepped off to the side of the road to let them pass by, which was again, you know, a very, very typical situation for us to encounter the soldiers, even during the curfew, and for them just to pass on by ... And so we stood to the side of the road, we put our hands out to show we didn't have any weapons and weren't, you know, threatening them in any way. And I was wearing a fluorescent vest to, you know, try to make ourselves as visible as possible. And once they drove within about 30 meters of where we were standing, they opened fire with their machine guns and continued shooting for a very long time, probably shooting about, you know, 30 rounds of ammunition, which is quite a lot when you see them in action. And I was struck in the face with one of the bullets and, you know, was knocked to the ground immediately. [[5]

Avery was taken to an Israeli hospital in Haifa, where he underwent more than three reconstructive surgeries, and spent two months recuperating, then underwent another three operations in the United States. His treatment has allegedly totalled over $1,000,000. He was not charged for his treatment in Israel. [6]

Israeli Supreme Court hearing

Avery appeared before the Israeli Supreme Court on February 28, 2005 to request a criminal investigation into his shooting. He accused Israeli troops of shooting him without provocation. The court responded by ordering the military to reopen Avery's case. Avery's attorney, Michael Sfard, said that the ruling "shows the military that even internal inquiries should be managed professionally and with care to get testimony from all sides, not just from military," and that it "coerces the military to change its stand on things. This is definitely not usual." [7]

See also

• James Miller (filmmaker)
• Tom Hurndall
• Rachel Corrie

References

• Goodman, Amy. U.S. Peace Activist Brian Avery Returns to Israel Two Years After Being Shot in the Face. DemocracyNow.org, February 25th, 2005
• Lori, Aviva. Who Shot Brian Avery?, Ha'aretz International, March 18, 2005
• Nessan, Lisa. Brian Avery's day in Israel's Supreme Court, The Electronic Intifada, 28 February 2005
• Stevens, Kristen. Israeli Supreme Court orders military to reopen case of wounded U.S. activist, The Associated Press, March 1, 2005

Further reading

• Broili, Susan. Brian Avery's life altered after being shot in the face by Israeli soldiers in Jenin, Al-Jazeerah.info, 26 June 2003