Morning

Although it was raining and muddy, there was a steady flow of pedestrian traffic. There was a report of beatings by border police at a hotel that was being built. N+M went to the hotel to investigate. Along the way, N+M met with three border policemen. N+M asked the police if they had any information regarding these reported beatings. The police said that they did not and even if they did, they would not tell N+M. One of the three was moderately respectful and engaged in conversation while the other two were hostile, immature, and inappropriate. Due to the weather, the three policemen wore winter protective gear over their uniforms, which hid their names and personal numbers. The conversation lasted approximately 15 minutes. N+M continued on to the hotel. At the site of the hotel, there was a witness that was willing to give a report and his contact details. According to the witness, three Palestinians had been detained by the border police (the same three that N+M had spoken with). They were taken behind the building to the backyard and told to jump rope (like the child’s game). Their Palestinian I.D. cards were taken at the same time. The police hit them. Eventually, the Palestinians had their I.D. cards returned and they were released. The incident was reported to have happened at 8:00 the same morning, (only one hour earlier). The Palestinian men who had been involved were not in the vicinity any longer. N+M reported the event to the Moked and gave the contact details of the witness.N+M found the same border police at the petrol station detaining Palestinian men. Nina requested to speak with the policemen and was told that she was interrupting their work; if N+M would wait until the police had finished with the men, then they would speak to them. The policeman who had spoken with N+M earlier said that he would give them his details when his commander approved it.A more senior commander appeared on the scene and was very helpful to explain the mandate of the border police and their duty to identify themselves. He also spoke with the border police and instructed them to give their names and personal numbers to N+M without hesitation. The hostile police officer demanded Nina’s identification card. At the scene were Belgian volunteers escorting three Palestinian men and three members of Ta’ayush who were there to photograph the checkpoint.Nina’s I.D. card was returned and the policeman spoke about interruption of their duties and the risk that it potentially causes them.Return at 11:00am.