Ahmad 'Amarneh, dialysis patient, age 30, resident of Ya'bad, Jenin District.

I have suffered from kidney disease for many years now. In 1998, I underwent a kidney transplant in Baghdad. The operation was not successful, and so I have been receiving dialysis since 1999. I also have knee problems. During the first intifada, there were confrontations between soldiers and some youngsters in the village. I was one of the kids who threw stones at soldiers. In one incident, the soldiers chased us and I ran away with three others. When we jumped onto a roof, I broke my leg. Since then, I haven't been able to walk without crutches or someone's help. Due to my kidney disease, I have to have dialysis every three days. I go to the al-Watani Hospital in Nablus for dialysis, which is the only facility in the area for kidney patients.

As a result of all the checkpoints on the way, I am always late for my checkups. On Sunday, 7 December 2003, around 6:00 A.M., I left my house in Ya'bad together with my wife. I was planning to go to Nablus for my checkup and to make an appointment for an operation. My past experiences at checkpoints taught me that I have to leave home very early. I was worried because of the large number of checkpoints on the way.

We reached the Beit Iba checkpoint between 7:00-7:30 A.M. It was very crowded. I asked the people in line to let me cross ahead of them because I was sick and had to undergo an operation at the hospital. They allowed me to go ahead of them.

While I was moving up towards the front of the line, one of the soldiers saw me and was apparently irritated by what I had done. When I got to the front, I gave him my ID card and my medical documents. He took my documents and said, "Stand there!" I didn't understand exactly where he wanted me to stand, so I stayed where I was, close to the soldier. A few minutes later, I sat down on the steps of the checkpoint tower. I sat there for about fifteen minutes, and then the soldier came up to me and said in Hebrew, "Go over there," and he pointed to a certain spot about twenty meters from the checkpoint. I understood that he wanted me to stand where several young people who had been delayed were standing. I walked over there and sat down. I waited there for more than an hour and fifteen minutes before the soldiers let me cross. On the way back, the soldiers at the same checkpoint made me wait for more than an hour., from 2:00 P.M. to 3 P.M. I made it home to Ya'bad around 5:30 P.M.

The next day, around 6:30 AM, I left the house with my wife and my niece. We drove to Nablus again. This time, I had to undergo some more tests and was to be hospitalized before the operation. Once again, we were delayed for more than an hour at the Beit Iba checkpoint and were humiliated by the soldiers as well. When we got to the checkpoint, one of the soldiers started yelling and cursing at us. My niece became very frightened and began to cry. The soldier looked over my medical documents, but despite the fact that everything was in order, he delayed us for more than an hour. We finally arrived at al-Watani Hospital around 10:30 A.M., a half an hour late for my appointment. I was later transferred from al-Watani Hospital to Rafidiya Hospital for the operation.

Ahmad Muhammad Sharif 'Amarneh, is 30 years old and married. He is unemployed and a resident of Ya'bad, Jenin District. The testimony was taken by Salma a-Deb'i at Rafidiya Hospital, Nablus, on 10 December 2003.