It was April 1, and Aisa Kiyosue and nearly 100 other activists from around the world were marching toward the Dehesha refugee camp in Beit Jala, northern Bethlehem, in an attempt to block it from an anticipated attack by the Israeli Army. They were in high spirits, clapping and singing songs of protest, when an Israeli tank appeared.

As the tank drew nearer, Kiyosue was apprehensive but optimistic. "I didn't expect they would shoot at nonviolent protesters," she says.

But they did. From the tank, an Israeli soldier fired a volley of warning shots at the feet of the marchers, and eight of the activists were hit by shrapnel. Kiyosue was one of them; she underwent surgery in Japan last month to remove metal fragments from her lower right leg.