Ahmad 'Aqel, victim, farmer, aged 48

On Friday, June 14, 2002, four settlers from Karme Zur, one of them is the settlement's security man, caused injuries to my eye and left arm. The next day, I filed a complaint against the settlers at the Kiryat Arba police station. The settlers have also been preventing me from getting to my land, which is near the settlement, for about a month.

A police investigator called Adiel took testimonies from me and Fa'iz 'Aqel, aged 26. Settlers had beat his 48-year-old mother, 'Aziza. The investigator asked us to bring 'Aziza to give her testimony. We did so. After having taken the testimony, we all went to the place where the incidents happened in a police car. The investigator examined the area, and then the settlement's security man arrived at the place. The investigator demanded he let us get to our lands, but the security man refused. The investigator recommended we turn to the commander of the Civil Administration, a person called Zion. He said he would help us.

On Wednesday, June 19, 2002, I went with 21 farmers from Halhul and Beit Umar to the Civil Administration. We couldn't meet with Zion that day and we scheduled a meeting for Sunday, June 23, 2002. We received a note with the date of the meeting and Zion's phone number.

On Sunday, June 23, we arrived at the Civil Administration. Zion met with seven farmers from Beit Umar and then with us, the 17 farmers from Halhul. Zion told us he would take care of the problem with the security man, Amnon. He said he couldn't go near the settlement because the settlers would kill him if they saw him there. He then took the phone numbers of two of us and promised to give us an update on the phone.

Two days later, I called Zion. He said he hadn't contacted Amnon yet. Two days after that, Zion told me to call him once the curfew was lifted. Yesterday, Sunday, July 7, 2002, I called him and he asked me to come with the other farmers to the police station in Kiryat Arba to meet and discuss the matter with him. I went with Shaker Muhamd Noah 'Aqel, 'Abd al-Karim Noah 'Aqel, Fa'iz Ahmad 'Aqilan 'Aqel, 'Adel Mahmud 'Aqilan Qarajeh, 'Abdallah Abu Diya, Mahmud Mustafa Abu Diya, Mahmud Salah Massiyeh, all farmers from Halhul and Mahmud Yunis, al-Haj Rateb and a third person whose name I don't know, farmers from Beit Umar. When we got to the station we asked to see Adiel. He spoke to us from behind the fence and recommended we go to the Civil Administration to see Zion. We told him that Zion himself asked us to come to the station to solve the problem here. Adiel said that he would call Zion and tell us what he says. About 30 minutes later, he returned with a message from Zion. Zion said that we should go to the settlement with the mayor of Halhul and the commander of the nearby army base.

We went to the mayor of Halhul, Muhammad Mish'al, who called the commander, Ya'akov. The commander said he wasn't at the camp and would return on Thursday. The Mayor told us to call him on Thursday to check on the matter. The commander, Ya'akov, told us we could work our lands on the condition that only ten farmers would arrive each day and work from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and that we would hand in our ID cards at the army base first. He threatened that if anyone from Halhul threws stones at the soldiers, he would not let us come to our lands. We rejected this solution. Three hours are not enough to work the land. The number of farmers allowed to come is not satisfactory and the time allowed is not suitable for farming, and would not do any good for the trees.

The total area of land to which is forbidden to us is more 400 dunam. The plots are owned by 45 different farmers from Halhul and 30 from Beit Umar. We grow fruit trees. According to the police, the area had been declared a military zone until September 14, 02. If we can't work our lands until then, the plants will die.

Ahmad Mahmud Noah 'Aqel, born in 1955, is married and the father of four. He is a resident of Halhul. He earns his living as a farmer. The testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashhash, in Halhul, on July 8, 2002.