Fadi al-Balbul, barber

I live with my wife and five children in Hebron. My eldest child is twelve and the youngest is one year old. We live on the third floor of a building in the a-Slaymeh section of the Old City. Two of my brothers also live in the building. I work at marble sawing in the Hebron industrial area, where I earn about 2,000 shekels a month. I have never been arrested or involved in security offenses.

On a Friday, 7 March 2008, my wife and I took my father-in-law’s car and drove with our children to Beit ‘Awwa to buy a washing machine. Around 6 P.M., we returned to my wife’s parents’ home, which is next to the Hebron-Dura road. We stayed there for two hours and had dinner, and then we decided to go home. My wife’s brother, Ribhi Burqan, drove us to the concrete roadblock south of the Tomb of the Patriarchs [the roadblock is 100-150 meters from the Tomb – B'Tselem].  Palestinian vehicles are not allowed to continue past this point. I picked up the washing machine, put it on my head, and walked between the concrete blocks. Behind the roadblock, next to the road, were two or three Border Police vehicles and three army vehicles. Seven or eight Border Police officers were standing next to the road. When I got close to them, one of them said something to me. He was sitting in a jeep, next to the driver’s seat. His door was open and his feet were on the ground. He asked me what I was carrying on my head. The machine was in a cardboard box. I told him it was a washing machine. He said that he wanted to check it. I told him it was a new washing machine. He replied irritably, “I'm going to search [it] and screw you.”

A young man who was just passing by helped me lower the machine. My wife and children waited about five meters from me. My brother, Sa’ad, 22, happened to walk by and apparently heard what the policeman said to me. Sa’ad suffers from depression and epilepsy and is not stable. He came over and stood beside me.

I told the policeman, “You can open the washing machine and check it.”  He continued to speak to me in an irritated tone: “I won’t just open it, I’ll destroy it.” Suddenly I saw my brother and the policeman hitting each other. I tried to separate them. Then some police officers and soldiers came over and beat my brother and me with their fists and clubs. My brother fell to the ground, and a border policeman stepped on his head. Some policemen beat me with their fists all over my body, but I remained standing. They beat me and my brother for about five minutes.

Then some border policemen cuffed my hands, blindfolded me, and put me into a jeep. They did the same to my brother, but put him in another jeep. The moment I got into the jeep, a policeman seated in the front hit me in the head with his rifle butt. The blow cut me and made me bleed a lot. The blood wet my clothes. I don’t remember what happened after that. When I woke up, I was lying on the ground. I felt water being poured on me, on my head and clothes. I think I was by the square in front of the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The policemen poured water on me for about five minutes. I think they wanted to wash the blood from my clothes. When the water touched the wound on my head, it hurt a lot. I asked them to stop pouring water on my wound, but they didn’t stop. I heard an ambulance siren and a conversation in Hebrew, some of which I didn't understand. I understood that the ambulance team and police were speaking. I think the ambulance team wanted to take me to the hospital, but the policeman didn't agree. I think he didn't agree because he thought that if I went to the hospital, they would be charged with assault. Finally, they took me back to the jeep. I don’t recall if they treated me at the site.

The jeep drove to a high spot. I was very cold and felt the wind. My clothes were drenched and I was shivering from the cold. The jeep stopped. I think we stayed there about two hours. My hands were cuffed and I was blindfolded. I heard the Border Police officers speaking at a distance from me. Then the jeep drove a long time. I think we got to Etzion. They put me in some kind of shack and I heard somone say in Hebrew that I had to get to a hospital. I understood that he didn't agree to take me into the base. Somebody spread some kind of substance on the wound and that hurt me. He bandaged my head. Then the jeep drove to another place. Border Police officers removed me from the jeep and laid me down on the ground. I smelled coffee. They drank coffee, talked, and laughed. We remained there for three hours. I was lying on the ground all the time. I asked the policemen to remove the handcuffs. I was shivering from the cold. One of them told me to lie if I was asked about the wound. He told me to say that I hit my head on the door of the jeep by mistake and that they didn't assault me. I said nothing.

In the morning, I found myself at the Qiryat Arba police station. A policeman removed the blindfold and cut off the plastic cuffs. I looked at the clock. It was 5:30 A.M. They took me into the interrogation room and an interrogator in a police uniform questioned me. I told him what had happened and he wrote down what I said. He said that the soldiers who were at the scene were claiming that I tried to assault them and grab a weapon from one of them. I told him that was not true.

After the interrogation, they put me into a detention room. A policeman told me I was being detained for four days. Then they extended my detention for another four days. On the eighth day, they drove me to the court in Ofer [military base]. I understood from the translation of the hearing that the judge identified with me. He saw the blood stains on my clothes. He wanted to release me, but the prosecution objected and said that the indictment was not yet ready. In the end, the judge decided to extend my detention for another 24 hours, and they returned me to the police station in Qiryat Arba.

The next day, they took me back to Ofer. There was a different judge and she wanted to release me, and said that I would pay 1,500 shekels for bail. The prosecution objected, and my detention was extended for another 24 hours. Again, they took me back to the police station in Qiryat Arba.

That night, my stomach began to hurt a lot. The doctor checked me and then an ambulance came and took me to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, where I spent the night. The medical staff gave me injections, did blood and urine tests, and gave me a medication. In the morning, I was taken back to the police station in Qiryat Arba. I felt better, but I was still in pain.

The next day, I asked the doctor for a tranquilizer because I hadn’t slept in 36 hours. He gave me two pills, but I still stayed awake. I didn't manage to sleep until the next morning. In the morning, they took me back to Ofer. I felt terrible. The prosecution filed the indictment against me and I realized that they were going to make a big deal out of the incident. The judge said that he was prepared to release me, but he wanted me to pay very high bail. I told him that I’m a simple person and can’t pay so much money. He ended the hearing without giving a ruling. At 9:30 A.M., they took me back to Qiryat Arba. On the way, I lost consciousness because I was so stressed and depressed. I woke up in the car when they poured water on me. When I got to the station, the doctor was waiting for me. He asked me about my condition, and I replied, “Allah be praised.” [a standard casual reply to inquiries after one’s health – B’Tselem]. He didn’t check me and didn’t treat me.

The next day, around 9:30 A.M., they took me on another trip. We went to a place far away, in the Ramallah area, where two more detainees got in, and then to Ofer. We got there about 2:30-3:00 P.M. They had heard my case without my being present. A policeman brought me a piece of paper, and I understood that they would release me if I paid 1,500 shekels for bail. They returned me to Qiryat Arba. I called my wife. She spoke with her father, and he brought the money. I was released at 6:00 P.M.

I returned home with torn, blood-stained clothes. My wife was in terrible shape. She didn't think they would release me. The children were very happy to see me. They hugged me very hard. I cried and thought about what I had undergone, and how they had beaten me in front of my children and wife. 

I can’t stop thinking about what happened. I don’t want to go back to work. My wife and family insist that I leave the house and start living my normal life again. I also have to get money to repay my father-in-law for the bail and to support my family. I didn't commit any offense. I only bought a washing machine and happened to encounter this policeman. Too bad I bought the machine. I was the policeman’s victim and ended up being the accused.

Ghassan Badawi ‘Abd al-Mu’ti Burqan, 31, married with five children, lives in Hebron. He gave the testimony to Musa Abu Hashhash at the PARC hotel in Hebron  on 23 March 2008.