A woman from Maryland lost her eye during a demonstration in Jerusalem against Israel’s naval raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.
Emily Henochowicz, 21, underwent surgery after suffering the injury, said hospital spokeswoman Yael Bossem-Levy.
Henochowicz was hit in the face by a tear gas canister shot by an Israeli border policeman, a witness said.
The witness said Palestinian youths were hurling rocks, but Henochowicz didn’t participate in any violence and was standing at a distance.
Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said, “We can confirm that a U.S. citizen, Emily Henochowicz, suffered a serious injury when a gas canister hit her in the face, as she was standing among other protesters in the West Bank at the Qalandiya checkpoint between the West Bank and Israel.”
In a Facebook message to the Associated Press, Sarah Henochowicz, Emily’s sister, said the family would have no comment, calling it “a private matter.”
On her Facebook page, Emily Henochowicz’s current city is listed as Ramallah, West Bank, and a posting she made May 31 read: “Gaza on my Mind.”
Her page says she is a student at Cooper Union, a college in New York, and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. — ap