IDF soldiers vandalize home in Tammun and steal 1,000 shekels, June 2004

Umayma B'sharat, resident of Tammun, Tubas District, age 20

I live with my husband, Yehiye Naim Bani 'Odeh, in our family's house in Tammun. We got married one month ago. The house has two floors. Yehiye and I, my mother-in-law, and her son Jihad live on the first floor. Yehiye's brother Bashar, his wife Hanin, and their three children live on the second floor.

On Monday, 7 June 2004, around 4 AM, I was sleeping alone in the bedroom. That day, my husband was sleeping at the site where he works in Israel. My mother-in-law and Jihad, who live on the first floor with me, were sleeping on the roof because it was so hot. Suddenly, I woke up to the sound of gunfire, explosions, and soldiers shouting near the house. I was very frightened and stayed in bed.

After about fifteen minutes passed, I got out of bed and went up to the second floor. On the way up, I met my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law Bashar, his wife Hanin, and their children. A large group of soldiers stood behind them. Later, they told me that soldiers had been on the neighbor's roof, jumped over to our roof, and ordered them to go down to the first floor. The soldiers brought us to the front door and ordered us to go outside. Some of the soldiers stayed inside the house and the others escorted us outside. Outside, I saw six military jeeps and about thirty soldiers encircling the house. Some of the soldiers pointed their guns at us, and others ordered Bashar to join them. They went inside the house belonging to Khdayer, my other brother-in-law, which is a few meters away from our house. My mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and I cried the entire time. From time to time, we heard the sound of explosions coming from our house. After a few minutes, the soldiers came out of Khdayer's house. They had handcuffed and blindfolded Bashar. Then they pushed him towards one of the jeeps. All of the sudden, they removed his blindfold and handcuffs and said to him in Arabic, "You should be ashamed of yourself. You have kids. How can you behave like this? We won't arrest you this time, but we will be back."

Around 7:30 AM, a group of soldiers ordered us to move a couple of meters back from our house. After about fifteen minutes, we heard a blast. The soldiers let us go back inside, then they left. We went inside and saw that all of our furniture and possessions were strewn all over the floor. The windows were broken, the couches were torn, and the plants were overturned on the floor. We were horrified and didn't know what to do.

After about half an hour, Hanin asked me my about my jewelry and told me to check to see if anything had been stolen. I went to my bedroom, which was a total mess. I found my jewelry scattered throughout the room. I had stored the jewelry in a black bag in the top of my closet. I collected it all and saw that nothing was missing. In addition to the jewelry, there had been 1,000 shekels in the closet. I had wrapped it in a handkerchief and hidden it in a blanket. I searched the whole room to find the money, but I didn't find it. In the afternoon, I straightened up the room and checked every corner. I also cleaned the entire house and searched everywhere, but I did not find the money.

Umayma Ibrahim B'sharat is 20 years old . She is married and a homemaker. She is a resident of Tammun, Tubas District, The West Bank. The testimony was taken by 'Atef Abu Rob at the B'sharat's home on 9 June 2004.