Testimonies

Bilal Hafnawi, age 16, resident of the Balata refugee camp Nablus

I live with my family in the Balata refugee camp. I go to the Qadri Tuqan high school, which is near Joseph's tomb, on Faisal Street in Nablus. The school is about a kilometer away from my house.

On Monday, 20 January, 2003, I left my house and went in the direction of the school. Before I got to there, some people told me that there were confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers close to the school, and that there were military vehicles in the area. I decided to wait it out. Around 09:00 A.M., I heard that the confrontations had quieted down. I went to school, and when I was about thirty meters away, I saw three big armored vehicles and some army and Border Police jeeps. A Border Police jeep approached me and four armed officers got out. They came up to me and without asking me anything or saying anything, started beating me. They took turns beating me up for about half an hour. They kicked me and beat me all over. They also beat me with their rifles.

Then, the officers stopped my friend, Khaled Khashash, who'd just arrived at the school. The soldiers beat him with the butts of their rifles and kicked him. They made him climb inside the big school dumpster. Then they grabbed hold of two more students and beat them badly in the same way they had beaten me. They then turned their attention back on me and beat me again. They threw a brick at me and hit me. They spotted a chickpea vendor's cart, the owner of which had obviously abandoned it and fled. The soldiers took the cart apart and beat me with the broken pieces of wood. They took the hot water used for boiling the chickpeas and splashed it on me. They beat me until they saw my nose and left leg were bleeding. Only then, did they leave me and went on to abuse somebody else. As a result of the beating I have a rupture in my right hand and bruising all over my body.

After this, a young woman, whom I do not know, most probably a local resident, arrived and started to shout at the officers to let the others go. One of them dropped his pants in front of her. The young woman, who seemed about 18 years old, fled the scene and I don't know what happened to her afterwards.

When the soldiers left me, I started walking home. I walked for about 200 meters until I saw a Red Crescent ambulance and asked the medical team to take me to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, some soldiers who were standing in an iron gate across from the Mukat'a building, stopped the ambulance. They made me get out and stand outside in the rain. After about half an hour, one of the soldiers demanded to see my ID. I told him I was a minor and didn't have one. The soldier slapped me in my face, kicked me and made me fall to the ground. He told me to go home and did not allow me to continue on my way to the hospital. The ambulance stayed where they'd stopped it the whole time.

When I was about thirty meters away from the soldiers, one of them called me back. I was really scared, so I ran off without thinking about the consequences. I was so scared, I didn't look back and just ran continuously for about a kilometer. I then took a taxi home, to the Balata refugee camp. I went to the camp clinic, where I received the necessary medical treatment.

Bilal Murtada Muhammad Hafnawi is 16 years old. He is a high school student and a resident of the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The testimony was taken by 'Ali Draghmeh by phone on 23 January, 2003.