Testimonies

Jamal Hamamrah, garage owner

I have a garage in Baka a-Sharqiyah, and I've been working in it for eight years. In the course of my work, I've got to know lots of Israelis, both Arabs and Jews, and almost all of my customers are Israelis. The fence isolated Baka a-Sharqiyah from all sides but I didn't close the garage, even though most businesses and garages in the village and area closed down. Thankfully I've got work, I don't have problems with the customers, and I've never had problems with the police, the army, or the Border Police.

Two days ago [Saturday, 5 March], I opened the garage some time after 9:15 A.M. All my workers were there: ‘Arafat Jalbush, Khalil Shana'ah, As'ad Khaliliya, Hassan al-Bakhar, Ibrahim al-Bakhar, and Muhammad Ahmad. There were also about ten Israeli customers there and a few people from Jenin and other parts of the Occupied Territories. While I was checking a Passat in front of the garage, a Border Police jeep pulled up and stopped opposite the garage door. The front license plate on the jeep was made of a piece of metal, and the one in the rear was covered with mud. A policeman who looked Ethiopian got out of the jeep and shouted in Hebrew to everyone there to stand on the side and take out their ID cards. I went into the garage to get my ID card. Inside it were some papers and 1,900 shekels. It was the monthly payment to the bank for a vehicle I had bought.

When I went inside, I was holding a cup of coffee. I guess that bothered the policemen because the Ethiopian policeman asked me why I was drinking coffee. This was after he had taken the ID cards from all the others, who were standing inside the garage. I answered that I was in my shop, drinking coffee. I gave him my ID card and told him I was allowed to drink coffee in my own shop. I understand Hebrew well, and we spoke in Hebrew. Just then another policeman from the jeep came in. He must have heard us talking. As soon as he reached us, he cocked his rifle, an M16, aimed it at my ear and said: “Say one word and I'll screw you.” This policeman's name was Saleh ‘Amer. It was written on his uniform. Two other policemen got out of the jeep and aimed their rifles at the other men. The Ethiopian policeman pressed his rifle against my back.

Saleh ‘Amer took a kind of small crowbar, about sixty centimeters long, that was on the table, and hit me on the shoulder, hands, and thighs with it. He didn't hit me on the head. He hit me a few times, and I fell to the ground. He kept on beating and kicking me. He took a utility knife that was in the garage and put it to my neck. He said to me: “One more word and I'll kill you.” He beat me for about ten minutes. During the beating he pulled me and stood me behind one of the cars, with the knife still to my neck. Then he said to the Ethiopian policeman: “Give me something else, big.” The Ethiopian gave him an air gun that we use for cleaning, and began to hit me with it. The Ethiopian policeman did not beat me.

I didn't have the courage to say anything. I heard the customers begging and asking the policemen to stop, but it didn't help. They stopped only after one of the policemen told them to stop. Then the policemen went aside and began to talk into a two-way radio. They didn't let us move or go to the bathroom. Some of the Israeli customers tried to talk on their cell phones, but the policemen didn't let them.

About an hour and a half later, the policemen gave us back our ID cards and left the garage. The young men who were with me took me to the Barta'a gate to file a complaint and get medical treatment from the Israelis. The soldiers at the gate ignored me. I fell to the ground. Later, a patrol jeep of the regular police arrived. A policeman named Rabi' Halbi said he would write down what I was telling him. I asked him to let me enter Israel to receive medical treatment, and he said that was the army's responsibility. He spoke on a two-way radio. A few minutes later, an army ambulance pulled up at the gate. One of the ambulance crew examined me thoroughly. A policeman told him that I was pretending and that I hadn't been injured. The doctor told the policeman to stay out of it.

After examining me, the doctor gave me a medical report and called a Red Crescent ambulance for me. The ambulance arrived about three hours later, around 3:00 P.M. All that time, the army doctor was next to me. He said he wouldn't leave me until he knew I was all right. The ambulance took me to the government hospital in Jenin, where I was treated.

I still suffer from pain in my shoulders, right knee, and back of my neck. I didn't get back the 1,900 shekels. When the policemen left the garage, they took what was inside the ID card. I told the men who were with me that the policemen had stolen 1,900 shekels from me, and I also told the policeman Rabi' Halbi about it. I signed the testimony I gave.

One of the workers at the garage wrote down the number of the jeep - 22262.

Jamal Sa'id 'Abd al-Haleq Hamamrah, 38, married with four children, is a garage owner and a resident of Jaba' in Jenin District. His testimony was given to 'Atef Abu a-Rub at the witness's garage in Baka a-Sharqiya on 7 March 2005.