Abu-Dis

Date: 26.11.03 –
Afternoon

Observers: R.B., N.G.

3 b.p jeeps and one police vehicle. When we asked why there were so
many we were told it was for mutual protection. Two jeeps were
driving up to the Court Building, one was near the wall and one was
opposite the shops with a number of Palestinians standing and one
young man with his hands bound. We were told that he had had a man
in his transit who did not have the correct papers and that when he
had been apprehended by the soldiers he, the driver, had attacked
the illegal man and hit him. The other drivers were standing around
the army jeep into which the illegal Palestinian was sitting
shouting and cursing him for being a liar and one had the feeling
that if they could have got at him he would have beaten him
up.

The captain in charge a druze Mula Shalan was hysterical. This was
in contrast to the rest of the soldiers who seemed very calm. (None
of them had their tags on but we were told that all of them are
druze except one,). He told the bound man that if he dared to move
from where he had put him he would shoot him. The man was terrified
and near tears and the nurse soldier was sitting next to him trying
to keep him calm and telling him he would not leave him and not to
worry. It looked very much as if he was sitting there also to
protect him from the captain.

Near the wall people going in the direction Abu Dis were being
randomly checked at a good pace. The soldiers there were derisively
friendly towards us. One man who did not have permit was stood up
against the taxi on the other side so that we shouldn’t see and
checked for weapons and then put into the police car in
custody.

We returned to see what was happening with the bound man and found
a strange picture….both he, the soldiers and the other taxi drivers
sitting together quietly on the steps and some of the taxi drivers
trying to persuade the captain to let him free. They seemed to be
on fairly good terms and we thought it better to leave the work to
them. In the meantime an older commander named Awieda arrived but
insisted on arresting the taxi driver saying that they had given
his details and could not go back on that. They then tried to put
him into the same jeep with the illegal man and from what we were
told as he was put in, he kicked out at the man and the soldiers
pulled him back and because he was bound he fell backwards and hit
his head. He lay there as if unconscious. The soldiers claimed that
he was acting. They refused to call an ambulance. R. insisted on
phoning for an ambulance. In the meantime they were giving him some
form of artificial respiration. It took about half an hour for the
ambulance to arrive. The soldiers still claimed that he was putting
on an act.

We then went up to the pishpesh and climbed over. The climb is now
very difficult and rather frightening as one goes from one side to
the other. A woman came with a baby, an old woman tried to get over
with great difficulty. The soldiers see this and do not stop them.
And as always the question arises if they let them get over that
way why can the pishpesh not be opened.