'Imad Salem, laborer

I live with my parents and siblings. I am the eldest son in the family. My youngest brother is six. My father drives a taxi. He drives people from Bethlehem to al-'Ubeidiyah. I finished tenth grade two years ago. I didn't stay in high-school because I wanted to study a technical occupation, so I went to a school of technology in Jericho run by the Al-Bir organization. The school accepts students who completed tenth grade and want to learn an occupation in the field of technology. I was accepted to the two-year electricians’ course. I successfully completed it and returned to Bethlehem to find work as an electrician, but I only managed to find temporary jobs. Now I can’t find anything. It is hard to find work in Bethlehem, so I decided to work in Israel. Our neighbors’ sons work in Israel and support their families.

Since I didn't know the route, I asked a few young men from the village if I could join them. In the beginning of 2008, I started going to Israel with workers from the village. I meet them next to the Palestinian Police station in al-'Ubeidiyah. Generally, a group of seven to ten workers goes from al-'Ubeidiyah to al-’Eizariya. Sometimes, soldiers wait in al-’Eizariya and catch us. Sometimes, they assault the workers when they catch them. In some cases, workers who are caught have to pay fines or serve three-month prison sentences. There aren’t any rules and it’s impossible to know what will happen if you get caught. It all depends on their mood that day.

Sometimes, when we want to cross the road at a-Za’ayem, we walk slowly because, if soldiers are waiting in ambush, we might meet workers who were beaten and released and they would warn us. If that happens, instead of entering 'Esawiya and then taking a bus to Damascus Gate, we have to go there by foot on side roads, a distance of three kilometers as the crow flies. If there is no ambush at the end of a-Za’ayem Road, we enter 'Esawiya and take the bus to Damascus Gate, and then each goes to his particular job.

On Sunday, 10 February 2008, around 8:30 A.M., I met seven workers from the village near the Palestinian Police station. A Palestinian taxi drove us to al-’Eizariya and from there we walked about two kilometers. On the way, we met workers who told us that an army jeep was in the area. We waited for an hour until the jeep left. After one of us checked to make sure no soldiers were in the area, we crossed the road, entered 'Esawiya, and then each went his own way. I walked with Ra’fat, one of the workers, to the Damascus Gate. We walked along the street on which the American consulate is located. There was a bus on the other side of the road. When it passed, we saw two Border Police officers behind where it had been. They saw us and called out to us, “Come, come,” and motioned for us to go over to them. We crossed the road and went to them. They demanded our ID cards. I gave them mine. Ra’fat gave them Israeli court documents stating that his wife is a resident of Israel and that he lives in Jerusalem with his family. When the policemen saw Ra’fat’s papers, they released him immediately.

They held on to my ID card. One of the officers was short and looked like he was in his late twenties. He spoke Arabic well. I assume he was Druze. The other one was tall and dark-skinned. He was wearing a small skullcap and didn't speak Arabic. The Druze officer asked me, “What is your address?” I told him that I live in al-'Ubeidiyah. He laughed and ordered me to stand facing the wall. I did as he said and they stood next to me and spit and swore at me. I stood there about ten minutes.

Then the Druze policeman ordered me to turn around and walk in front of them. We walked about ten meters and reached a Border Police post. The policemen took me into a room that was about 2.5 meters square. In there, the tall policeman punched me in the head and face. The Druze policeman also beat me. They kicked me and hit me in the head, back, and legs. The tall policeman tried to kick me between the legs but I bent over, so I took the blow in the head instead. That hurt a lot. They hit me in the stomach with their rifle butts. It was so painful I shouted.

The Druze officer brought a small tangerine, wrapped it in a tissue and put it in my mouth. He left it there for about ten minutes. I had a cold and couldn’t breathe easily through my nose. I felt as if I was choking. They put the tangerine into my mouth three times, each time for 10-15 minutes. The tall soldier stood one meter from me and had his rifle aimed at my head. He put his finger on the trigger and I froze in fear. I thought he was going to shoot me, but he didn't.

The Druze policeman poured coca cola on my head. Then he poured some lemon juice into a cup and poured it on my head. He also poured sugar or salt on my head. The tall policeman grabbed a club and hit me in the back. That hurt a lot.

Then they ordered me to crawl under a small table next to the sink they used for washing glasses. The table was about 50 centimeters high and I could hardly squeeze under it. I don’t think I could have done it if I hadn’t been so scared. Under the table, I kept my head bent and stayed close to the floor. The Druze policeman brought a chair and put it next to the table. Then he sat down on it  and put his feet on my shoulder. The other policeman stood on my legs. I stayed like that for about ten minutes, with their feet on me. Then the tall policeman kicked me in the legs. It felt as if he had broken them.

Then two other policemen came in and the two who had beat me left. They apparently changed shift. The two new policemen didn't beat me. They picked me up from under the table. My whole body hurt. They gave me back my ID card and told me, “We don’t want to see you here again.” I left the room and barely managed to walk to Damascus Gate. I got on a bus there and went home. I stayed in bed for a week. I didn't go to the hospital because I’m scared of being hospitalized.

'Imad Sa’id 'Ali Salem, 18, resides in al-'Ubeidiyah, Bethlehem District. He gave the testimony to Suha Zeid at his home on 24 February 2008.