Middle East activists share tips on dodging tear gas and staying safe during US unrest
Activists from across the Middle East are offering advice on how US demonstrators can protect themselves as their protest movement continues to grip the country.
American police forces have used pepper spray, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters in cities such as Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Washington, DC.
The same equipment has been used by security forces during unrest in Palestine and Lebanon, prompting activists to offer guidance about what action to take to stay safe.
Palestinian Rana Nazzal tweeted about her experiences of facing tear gas and warned US protesters about the dangers of being hit by a canister fired into a crowd.
“Like bullets, they can kill. Unlike bullets, tear gas travels slowly enough to watch it coming so don’t turn and run when they start firing,” she said.
“Watch them shoot it and dodge. Move calmly upwind.”
Lebanese protesters also shared what they learnt after taking to the streets in October last year to demand action over the dire economic downturn in the country and government corruption.
The demonstrations continue, although they have been muted because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sarah Aoun and Azza El Masri took part in the uprising in Beirut and said there were similarities in the tactics used by security forces in Lebanon and the US.
“Sarah and I, along with many in our community, noticed the footage coming out of Minneapolis was similar to what we experienced in Beirut, especially during the very first days of our October uprising,” Ms El Masri, 25, said.
“It’s not to say that our struggles are the same – they are not – but we noticed that police response, official reactions and media framing mirrored what we’d experienced.”
Their guidance was posted on Twitter and co-working platform GitHub, offering suggestions on what clothes to wear and what to take to a protest, as well as how to protect your digital devices.
“No one’s freedom of speech or protest should be impacted by the fact that they’re out at a protest,” Ms Aoun said.
“There are mass surveillance devices being used to gather information on protesters, so it’s really important for people to stay as safe as possible in the digital sense as well.”
Ms Aoun, a human rights technology expert who works on privacy and security with journalists, activists and human rights advocates, lives in Brooklyn and has acted as a medic during the US protests.
“It seemed like the police were deliberately targeting the press, as we have seen in the news everywhere,” she said.
“But they’ve also been deliberately targeting medics and they came charging at us a few times and arrested one of my colleagues.”
Ms Aoun said that while the police response to protests in Lebanon and the US was similar, American security forces could rely on more sophisticated means of surveillance.
Her advice has been retweeted more than 6,500 times.
“We’ve been inundated with messages of gratitude, not just from protesters in the US, but also in Brazil,” she said.
“It has shown me that despite our differences, many communities continue to experience different facets of state violence and have found areas of solidarity within these differences.”