Shadi Sabatin, laborer

I’ve been working for ten years for an Israeli contractor named Badi. He always arranges a work permit for me, and we work only in Ma’aleh Adumim. He takes me to and from work in his car and I’ve never had any problems. Sometimes I work the whole week and sometimes only two or three days a week. My permit is renewed each time.

On Monday two weeks ago (29 September), I was fasting. It was one of the last days of Ramadan. I didn't have work, so I decided to go and pray at al-Aqsa Mosque. I went to Checkpoint 300 [between Bethlehem and Jerusalem]. It was really crowded and took me about two hours to cross. I went with hundreds of others to pray at the mosque, and there were thousands of people there. Following prayers, I broke the fast at the mosque and decided to spend the night there, so I’d be there for night prayers.

In the morning, I left the mosque, intending to go home, shower, and sleep. When I was about 400 meters from the mosque, a border policeman and a border policewoman ordered me to stop. They took my identity card, which has my work permit inside it, and told me to go with them to the police station. Inside the station, they had me sign a document that said I had entered al-Aqsa Mosque. I saw a policeman in another room and went over to him and told him what happened. I told him I have a permit to work in Ma’aleh Adumim and that I went to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque. I think he was in charge of the station. He called to the two police officers who had brought me to the station and asked them, “Why did you bring him to the police station? He has a permit to work in Ma’aleh Adumim.” While he was talking, my cell phone rang. It was Badi, who told me there was work that day. The policemen heard the conversation. The senior police officer told the other two, “Give him his identity card and let him go to work.” They gave me back my card and my work permit.

I drove with Badi to the construction site, which is run by a man named Doron.  I finished work at 5:00 P.M. and got into Badi’s car. Badi told me he had an urgent errand to handle first and then he would take me home. I said that was fine and we drove to Jerusalem. We passed the a-Za’ayem checkpoint and continued to the tunnel near Beit Iksa. As we approached a Border Police patrol vehicle, the policemen motioned us to stop. A border policeman took our ID cards. There were a few cars in line in front of us.

We waited in the car for more than half an hour, so they could check our cards. The muezzin called for evening prayers and the breaking of the fast. I was very hungry. A border policeman came over to the car and told us to get out. Badi explained that we were from Ma’aleh Adumim and that he needed to go somewhere before returning me to Bethlehem. The policeman told me to go to the patrol car and told Badi to follow it in his own car. I got into the Border Police vehicle.

There were three policemen inside, and one of them sat next to me in the back seat. He told me to bow my head. Every time I lifted my head, he told me to lower it. We continued like that until we got to the police station in ‘Atarot. At first, they took Badi into a room and I waited outside. About twenty minutes later, Badi came out and they took me into the room. Inside the room were two interrogators, one of them a man and the other a woman. The man had very dark skin and looked to be in his early forties. The woman was pregnant, also was dark-skinned, and had brown eyes. The man spoke to me in Arabic. He asked me about my work and my boss. I told him I work only in Ma’aleh Adumim, because my permit is only good for there. He told me, “Admit that you work with the boss inside Jerusalem.” I told him that’s not true. He punched me with both hands and asked me the same question again. I gave him the same answer, and then he got up and slapped me a few times. That hurt a lot and I screamed. They questioned me for half an hour and then took me outside. My boss told me he heard my screams and sound of the blows.

After waiting there for about twenty minutes, they took me back into the room. The same interrogators were there. The woman didn’t take part in the interrogation. He asked me, again, where I work. I told him and he shouted at me, “You’re lying!” He got up and hit me. He punched me in the face and head. This time, the interrogation lasted about twenty minutes. After they finished, they had me sign a paper containing what I said. They didn't give me back my permit. When I left the station, I didn't find my boss. I went and took a bus from Jerusalem to Ramallah. It dropped me off at the Damascus Gate, and from there I continued on my way to Bethlehem.

I haven’t gone to work since then because I didn’t get my permit back. I don’t know what to do.

Shadi Taha Dhib Sabatin, 26, is a laborer and a resident of Husan village in Bethlehem District. His testimony was given to Suha Zeid on 14 October 2008 at the witness's home.