Testimonies

Talal 'Ida, ambulance driver, age 45, resident of Dir 'Amar, Ramallah District

Yesterday morning [May 20], two ambulances went to the hospital in Ramallah. Osama Najar drove one of them. He took a pregnant woman from a-Mizr'a al-Gharbiya. I drove the other ambulance. With me in the ambulance were Dr. Muhammad 'Ida, 50, a cardiologist who works the hospital, and a sixty-year-old heart patient from Bir Zeit.

Around 7:45 A.M., we reached the Surda checkpoint. At the checkpoint, which is permanent, there are mounds of dirt blocking cars from passing and there are usually army jeeps. There's a narrow path near the checkpoint, which is supposed to be exclusively for the use of army vehicles. When I got to the checkpoint, I saw that cars were waiting in line. Some of the drivers told me that the soldiers were not letting cars through. But I continued on my way.

Before I left , I spoke with the Civil Administration in Beit El and coordinated the ambulance's passage through the checkpoint. Dalia Bassa, the person in charge, told me to call her when I got to the checkpoint. When I approached the checkpoint, I saw an army jeep parked in the area. There were four soldiers inside it. I called Dalia Bassa and told her what was going on at the checkpoint. I told the soldiers that we had patients in the ambulances, but they told me to go back. Dalia asked to speak with the soldiers. I went over to the jeep, holding the cellular phone in my hand. The driver of the jeep opened the door and motioned me to go over to his side. I wanted to give the phone to the commander, who was sitting next to the driver. Suddenly, the driver punched me hard in the left eye. I punched him twice in the face. I felt nauseous and dizzy. The driver tried to get out of the jeep to beat me, but the soldiers in the jeep grabbed him. All the soldiers got out of the jeep. The driver was a big man, tall, light-skinned, and had a long beard. He looked about forty-five years old. The commander was blond with green eyes, short, a medium build, and about twenty-two years old. One of the soldiers was short, dark-skinned, and the other was tall. The two seem to be about twenty-two and twenty-four. They grabbed the driver, put him back into the jeep, and then they all got back into the jeep and left the site.

I touched my left eye, where he punched me, and it was bleeding. I got into the ambulance and went immediately to Beit El to file a complaint. When I got to the main gate, the jeep followed me. The two soldiers who were in the back got out and came over to me. They tried to convince me not to go in. They said that the driver had made a mistake. They tried to convince me to forget it. I wouldn't let up and then the driver got involved. He started swearing at me, and I cursed him back. A commander from the Civil Administration named Amir a-Safdi, whom I know, and some soldiers came over and tried to calm things down. They told the driver that I was in their hands now.

I told them that I wanted to file a complaint with a senior commander. Then another army commander and a police officer came out. They questioned the doctor. Then Amir a-Safdi told me to call headquarters and tell them to send a driver to take my ambulance. I went into a room. The soldiers who had been in the jeep were also there. I gave my testimony. The two army commanders and the police officer also questioned the soldiers too. We finished around 3:30 P.M. Then I left Beit El.

I went to the hospital in Ramallah for medical treatment. The doctors stitched my wound and gave me medicine to take. I was discharged that evening.

Talal 'Abd al-Malek Muhammad 'Ida, 45, is married, an ambulance driver, and a resident of Dir 'Amar, Ramallah District

The testimony was taken by Iyad Haddad at the hospital on 21 May 2003.