Muhammad Mansur, taxi driver

Yesterday [20 January], around 1:00 P.M., soldiers detained me at the Huwara checkpoint because I went outside the area in which they allow taxi drivers to stand. They always detain for a few hours taxi drivers who do that.
 
One of the soldiers told me to stand between three concrete blocks at the checkpoint. This is where the soldiers always keep the detainees. Next to me was another taxi driver who works with me at the checkpoint, Na’im ‘Awwad. His brother Fawzi was being delayed as well. The soldiers released Fawzi and then Na’im called to a soldier and asked if he could give his brother his things – a wallet and a cell phone. The soldier took the things and gave them to Fawzi. Fawzi told the soldier, “You released me, what about my brother?” The soldier told him, “I’m detaining him and I’ll release him whenever I want.” Fawzi left.

Later, Na’im called to a soldier. I managed to understand that he had asked him to remove the cuffs because they it hurt him a lot. The soldier was tall, about 1.8 meters high, of average build, and light-skinned. He said he was in charge of the checkpoint. He had lots of radio transmitters. The soldier pulled Na’im by the hand and took him from the room. He told him that he would also cuff his legs, and he called to another soldier. He spoke with Na’im in Hebrew. I couldn’t understand exactly what they said, because my Hebrew is poor. The two soldiers beat and kicked Na’im. They tried to knock him down. He shouted and fell to the ground. The other soldier who beat him was shorter, about 1.7 meters high, thin, and light-skinned, and had a beard and mustache.

In the meantime, another of Na’im’s brothers, Mahmoud, came to the checkpoint. He told the soldiers, “This is my brother. What do you want from him? What did he do?” The tall soldier picked up his weapon and hit Mahmud on the head with it. I heard loud noises that sounded like someone snoring. Mahmud fell to the ground, his head bleeding. Na’im threw himself onto his brother. The soldiers moved away people who tried to approach. Some people picked up Mahmoud and took him. Na’im went with them, his hands still cuffed. People at the checkpoint shouted, “Allah akbar.” Soldiers fired a stun grenade and a few shots to keep people away from the checkpoint. I heard the soldier who had hit Mahmoud say on the radio transmitter that he had detained a fellow, and his brother had come and caused problems, and that he [the soldier] had hit him. That’s what I understood.

Another soldier came over. He pushed me and said, “Do you also want problems?” Another soldier came and told him that I wasn’t involved in what had happened at the checkpoint. He gave me back my ID card and I left.

Later, a soldier called to me and asked me, in Arabic, about what had happened. I told him. He said, “Did you seesaw how his brother charged at the checkpoint?” I told him, “You attacked his brother right in front of him. He didn't do anything.”

Muhammad Abdallah Salim Mansur, 37, married with three children, is a taxi driver and a resident of Kafr Qalil in Nablus District. His testimony was given to Salma a-Deba'i at the Specialist Hospital in Nablus on 21 Jan. '09.