Testimonies

Muhammad a-Saqqa, ambulance driver

On Friday, 13 December, 2002, at around 2:30 P.M., the nurse 'Abdallah 'Abd a-Rahman Abu 'Ayash and I, left the national hospital in Nablus in an ambulance. We were on our way to take some kidney patients to their homes. One of them was Rawhai a-Sadeq who lives in the al-Masqan a-Sha'abiya neighborhood, one kilometer from the 'Askar refugee camp.

After we had dropped off all the patients, we began to make our way back to the Red Crescent headquarters. We got to the south entrance of the al-Masqan a-Sha'abiya neighborhood, where there were an Israeli tank and APC. Three soldiers were standing near them. When I saw them, I slowed down. The soldiers ordered me to stop the vehicle on the side and one of them asked me where I'd come from and where I was going. I told him I had taken kidney patients to their homes and that I was on the way back to the Red Crescent headquarters in Nablus. One of the soldiers, who was short, dark skinned and with short hair, spoke to me aggressively. He said: "You have to take two soldiers with you to the 'Askar refugee camp." I asked if he meant that I had to take them in the ambulance. He said yes. I gathered they were chasing after some people who had broken curfew. I asked him why I had to take the soldiers. He said it was none of my business (he spoke Hebrew. I can understand some.) I told him I wasn't allowed to drive soldiers in the ambulance and that that was the law. He responded by ordering me to get out of the ambulance and turn off the engine. Then, another soldier came up to me. He was tall and light skinned. He noticed me putting the ambulance keys into my pocket. He said: "You'll have to follow the APC, and don't try to take off, you have to follow me."

When I was driving behind him, I could see the APC number. It was 75668. We drove about 300 meters, until the Kafr Salem junction, where there were two APC's and three soldiers. One of the soldiers came up to me and asked: "Why are you causing problems?" I told him I wasn't causing problems and that the soldiers stopped me and demanded I drive them to the 'Askar refugee camp. I also said I wasn't allowed to do that. The soldier ordered me to get out of the ambulance and open all the doors so they could search it. Another soldiers cocked his gun and put its barrel on my hip. His expression was grave and he said: "Suppose you're injured. Who'd come treat you now?" Then he said: "The Israeli army of course" he also said: "The Israeli army has taken care of many civilians, even during the war, and you Arabs don't do that." He meant we didn't take care of Jewish people. I said that wasn't true and that I personally treated Israeli soldiers and settlers who were wounded in a car accident near Beita about ten years ago.

After that, the soldiers detained me for about ten more minutes. He then told me: "Do you know why the soldiers asked you to drive them?" I said I didn't. He said: "Because one of them is sick." I told him they'd asked me to drive them to the 'Askar refugee camp and not to a hospital and that there was no hospital in the refugee camp. I also told him they didn't even ask for any medicine. The soldier gave me back my ID card and said: "This should serve as a lesson for you. You have to learn that if soldiers stop you and tell you to drive them, you have to ask why they want to ride with you." I told him that if they'd needed medical help I would have helped them. The soldier told me I was insolent and ordered me to leave the place. We were detained for a total of about half an hour.

Muhammad Ramadan Mahmoud a-Saqqa, age 39, is married and father of one. He is a resident of Nablus and works as a an ambulance driver . The testimony was taken by 'Ali Daraghmeh, at the Red Crescent headquarters in Nablus, 15 December, 2002.