'Azzun

First hand testimony of a family at Azzun: Yesterday at two o’clock at night we heard loud screams and intense knocks on the door of the house.

The mother of the family put a Hijab on herself and went to open the door. Ten soldiers entered the house and asked where the children were.

The father of the family said that the children were sleeping. Asked not to disturg them. Three of the children woke up and remained in their room.

According to them very many soldiers entered the village and spread out among the houses. They knocked on all the doors.

The soldiers didn’t damage the house, didn’t turn things over, didn’t break and scatter and all the other actions known from other places. It was just the mud that was on their shoes which dirtied the house and marked the fact that they had been there and of course the knowledge that your house is penetrable and open to the caprices of the army.

Their claim is that the children throw stones in the direction of the main road.

When the children came back from school I asked them whether they had talked about this at class or among themselves during the break, and how they felt.

They all claimed that they weren’t afraid of the soldiers. They hadn’t talked about it as it was no issue. It is something that happens regularly and is part of the routine.

The father of the family couldn’t sleep the whole night and was afraid that the trembling he had recovered from lately would return.

At the entrance to Azzun there was a military car and soldiers were performing checks.