San Francisco — About 400 people turned out for a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in support of Oakland demonstrator Tristan Anderson, who was critically injured Friday in the Middle East in a clash between protesters and Israeli troops over Israel's West Bank separation barrier.

Anderson, a former protester in the 21-month UC Berkeley tree sit, was injured when he was hit in the right temple with a tear-gas canister fired by Israeli military forces using a new high-velocity, extended-range tear-gas gun, his supporters said.


The 38-year-old underwent surgery in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, to have part of his frontal lobe removed and remains hospitalized, although friends said he responded to a stimulus test Sunday morning.


"He moved two fingers, so we know he's not brain-dead," supporter Kate Raphael said.


He was injured in the agricultural village of Naalin in the occupied Palestinian territories at the end of a demonstration against construction of the Israeli separation wall. Anderson's supporters said villagers have been staging nonviolent demonstrations every Friday since July to protest Israel's construction of the wall on their land.


Former tree sitter Gabrielle Silverman, Anderson's girlfriend, was with him at the time of his injury and reportedly is at his bedside.


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