A visit to the Magistrates’ Court in support of the Amur family, from Yata.

Also in court were Amira Hass, and Amiel and Gai, from Ta’ayush.

Along Highway 60 to Jerusalem we saw military vehicles at these locations:  Dura al-Fawwar (checkpoint), Shuyukh, Hebron – a military vehicle parked off to the side – Al Aroub – two military vehicles and a checkpoint.

There were no military vehicles along the road when we returned.

The soldier at the tunnels checkpoint asked Muhammad to say something and wanted to see his ID card.  He asked me what our connection was with Muhammad; when I said “friends” he seemed nonplussed.  All of us hand over all our documents.  They make us stand off to the side, a civilian employee returns our documents, apologizes for the racist behavior and says, referring to the soldier, “He’ll eventually learn how to behave…”

An article by Amira Hass appeared in Ha’aretz today: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.588901

We’ve known the Amur family, and its olive grove, since 2006.  That was the first time their trees had been cut down.  Later it happened again, twice.  The perpetrators each time were never found, so the Amur’s are suing the police for incompetence.

Today was a preliminary hearing on their suit.  The attorney representing the police said that every Palestinian may submit a claim for damages to a special committee established for that purpose, and there’s no point suing the police who do everything possible to protect property.  Attorney Itai Mak said that Palestinians are compelled to accept the decision of that committee, they have no right of appeal, which is unjust.

The judge orders the two sides to reach a settlement and return within thirty days.  They’ll decide either on compensation or will go to court if the judge determines that’s necessary.  She didn’t reject the suit out of hand, which in itself is a huge achievement in legal terms.

We drove the Amur family back to the Bethlehem checkpoint.