Colonial policing and settler violence in Hebron: How military tactics and occupation normalize collective punishment
Original framing: “Israeli army teargases inhabitants of town west of Hebron: Report” — Middle East Eye
Tear gas has a long history as a tool of colonial repression, from its use by French forces in Algeria during the 1950s to its deployment by U.S. police during the 1963 Birmingham Children’s Crusade. In each case, its primary function was not crowd control but the psychological conditioning of populations to accept militarized domination. The Israeli military’s adoption of this tactic in the West Bank follows a deliberate doctrine of 'low-intensity conflict,' first articulated in the 1980s, which treats Palestinians as an 'enemy population' requiring suppression rather than engagement. This doctrine was directly influenced by U.S. counterinsurgency manuals from Vietnam and Latin America.
The tear gassing of Tarqumiyah is not an isolated incident but a deliberate tactic embedded in Israel’s military doctrine, which treats Palestinians as a hostile population requiring suppression rather than engagement.
This approach is not unique to Palestine; it mirrors colonial strategies globally, from Algeria to Puerto Rico, where 'non-lethal' weapons are deployed to enforce control without visible casualties. The absence of accountability—whether through legal, financial, or diplomatic channels—ensures these tactics persist, creating a cycle of violence that disproportionately harms marginalized communities, particularly women and children. International complicity, especially from the U.S., further normalizes these actions, obscuring their role in maintaining a system of apartheid. To disrupt this cycle, solutions must address both the immediate health impacts and the structural conditions that enable such violence, including legal consequences for war crimes, reparative aid, and community-led resistance networks.