Ribhi 'Aseiri, construction worker

Yesterday [3 May 2008], around 2:30-3:00 P.M., Muhammad Yusef Salah called to tell me that settlers had torched fields of local residents that are located south of the town. On our way there in my car, we saw the smoke. We parked the car next to Jamal Yusef Salah Ahmad's house, about 200 meters from the fire, and continued by foot along a dirt path.

When we got to the fire, I saw about ten settlers dressed in white. One of them had a rifle.  I think it was an M-16. The settlers, who were about 20-30 meters from us, were holding three containers, about fifteen liters each, and they threw them to the ground. I think they contained inflammable material, but I couldn't make out for sure.

I saw about 50 people from our town there – men, women, and youths. They were all trying to extinguish the fire with their clothes and branches. We were afraid that the fire would reach the nearby wheat field. Thank heaven, we succeeded. However, another plot, which didn't have crops on it, was still burning. The settlers stood between us and the burning plot and didn't let us get to it. It was only after the youths threw stones at the settlers that they moved back a bit. Then they fired into the air to frighten us.

Some of the townspeople called to get help, and about 20 minutes later, a fire engine and two army jeeps arrived. Two firemen got out of the fire engine. In the meantime, more settlers came, making a total of about 50-60, all of them dressed in white. Some of them had long beards and side curls and some were armed.

One of the firemen asked the soldiers to move the settlers back so they could put out the fire, but the soldiers didn't do it.  We started moving forward, and one of the soldiers told us to back up. We backed up. The soldiers were about 20-30 meters from us. One of them motioned to me to move forward and we started walking toward each other. When he reached me, he punched me in the stomach. Then another soldier came over and twisted my hands, and cuffed them behind my back with plastic cuffs. One of the soldiers shouted in Hebrew and hit me in the leg, and I realized that he wanted me to crouch on the ground. He hit me in the back of the head with his rifle butt and then grabbed my shirt and pulled me up. Two soldiers held me.

In the meantime, the settlers came toward us. One of them tried to hit me in the face with a large rock. He was almost two meters tall and broad, light-skinned, and had black hair, long side curls, and a beard. He was about 35-40 years old. I lowered my head, and the soldiers tightened their grasp of my hands and shoulders. They spoke with the settler and then he hit me with the rock on the left side of my face. It was a heavy blow and made me dizzy.

Then one of the soldiers grabbed me by the clothes and threw me down, onto my face and stomach. My hands were still bound behind me. Some settlers hit and kicked me. I could see that they were settlers, but couldn't see exactly how they looked. Then I saw that the settlers who were all around were starting to move towards the town. Every settler who passed by me hit me or kicked me. This lasted for about half an hour. During that time I heard more than 50 gunshots, but I don't know who fired, settlers or soldiers.

After that, a settler came over, tore my shirt and covered my eyes. Then some of them beat me, this time for about 15 minutes. I cried out in pain. Then one of them picked me up. They walked me about ten steps and threw me to the ground. They kicked me two or three times and picked me up again, walked me a couple of steps and pushed me, face down, to the ground. One of them pressed my head to the ground. I felt the stones in the ground, and it really hurt. They picked me up and took me a few more steps and then threw me hard to the ground. Then I heard them walk away.

I tried to remove the blindfold, which was hard to do because my hands were cuffed. Using a stone that was on the ground, I finally managed to remove part of the blindfold, enough to let me see. I was in a hole about one-meter deep. I had trouble standing, but I managed to get up. I looked around and saw two soldiers and an armed settler. I was afraid, and bent back down in the hole.

After about ten minutes passed, I stood up again and looked around. I saw two soldiers about 50 meters from me. Two other soldiers were closer, about 3-5 meters away. I didn't see any settlers. The soldiers nearby called to me and I went over to them. One soldier walked away, and the other one told me to walk toward the settlement. I walked about 40-50 meters, with him behind me, until we got to army jeeps. The soldier told me to sit down, and I sat on the ground. I asked him to remove the plastic handcuffs, and he replied, in poor Arabic, that I had to wait for the officer. I asked him where the officer was, and he told me he would arrive soon. A few minutes later, I heard the soldier talk on the radio transmitter. Then he told me to go home. I asked him to remove the cuffs, but he refused.

I headed toward the town and saw settlers coming from there. They were about 250 meters from Jamal's house and about 150 meters from mine. I was afraid they would see my hands were bound and attack me, so I decided to go in another direction, along a dirt road that links my village and 'Urif Village. I walked about 500 meters and then a car driven by one of the residents came by. I asked him to remove the cuffs and he cut them off with a small knife. My hands hurt a lot. I got into his car and when we got to the main road, we saw a Red Crescent ambulance. We motioned to the driver to stop, and he took me to Refidiyah Hospital, in Nablus. The doctors examined me, gave me a shot of pain killer, and told me to rest in bed for a week.

Hamam Munir 'Abd a-Latif, 16, arrived at the hospital while I was there. He told me that settlers had wounded him in the forehead.

Ribhi 'Abd al-Karim 'Aseiry, 43, is a construction worker and a resident of 'Asira al-Qibliya in Nablus District. His testimony was given to Salma a-Deba'i at the witness’s home on 4 May 2008.