Testimonies

U'dai '‘Asi, age 13

Two days ago (17 April 2005), around 10:00 A.M., I was playing soccer with seventeen students from my school, Beit Liqya High School. There was no school because the teaches were on strike. The field we were playing at is located about a kilometer from the center of the village, in a valley between two mountains: Mt. a-D'ek to the north of the field, and Mt. Tanur to the south. The separation fence is being built on the top of Mt. Tanur.

A few minutes after the game started, I saw twenty or more youths going up Mt. Tanur, in the direction of the people working on the fence. The youths began to throw stones at the soldiers who were guarding the area, and the soldiers opened fire. They fired rubber bullets. I can recognize the sound of rubber bullets, which is softer than that of live ammunition. We weren't concerned about the gunfire because we were far away. Then I saw a group of six Border Police officers - I knew who they were by the color of their uniforms - coming toward us from the top of Mt. Tanur.

When they got to about fifty meters from us, I heard a gunshot. I do not know who fired, but I was sure it was live fire because of its sharp whistling sound. I did not hear any other shots. The bullet hit a child that I know, Baker Na'im Baker 'Asi, who is twelve years old. He fell onto his back about eight meters from me. He shouted: “Mommy… daddy.” I ran over to him, as did the other kids, among them Yazid Muhammad Da'ud and Hareb Na'im Baker, the wounded boy's brother. When we picked him up, I saw blood coming from the right side of his chest. We grabbed his arms and legs and ran quickly to the village. I looked back and saw that four soldiers had joined the Border Police officers. I knew they were soldiers because of their khaki uniforms. The soldiers ran after us to grab the wounded boy, but they stopped after running about fifty meters.

We carried Baker 'Asi about 300 meters, to where his brother ‘Ayed, 30, was doing construction work. ‘Ayed took his wounded brother to the local clinic. From there, he was taken by the village ambulance to the hospital in Ramallah. Then I went home. Later, I heard that he was feeling better and that the bullet had struck him in the chest and exited from his back.

'Udai Mufid Mahmoud 'Asi, age 13 and resident of Beit Liqiya, was a seventh-grade student. About two weeks after giving his testimony to B'Tselem, 'Udai himself was shot to death by IDF soldiers during a demonstration of children and teenagers against the separation barrier. 'Udai's testimony was taken by Iyad Hadad, on 5 May 2005, at the event's location.