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Testimonies

Testimony: Israel hampers residents of a-Nabi Samwil from entering their village by car, April 2008

Amir 'Obeid, father of three

Amir 'Obeid

Last month [March 2008], Israel closed the old road to a-Nabi Samwil, and now we are only allowed to drive home via the road passing through the Ramot checkpoint. Only persons whose ID card indicates they live in a-Nabi Samwil are allowed to enter the village. As for vehicles, only those with Israeli plates or owned by persons registered as living in the village are allowed entry. Villagers who don't have a car are not allowed to enter by Palestinian taxi, so they have to order Israeli taxis, which cost a lot of money.

Last Thursday [3 April], at around 11:00 A.M, I left my house with my four-year-old son, Malek. We walked to the Ramot checkpoint and took a taxi with Israeli plates to Bidu. In Bidu, I got a haircut and then we bought vegetables and meat for the house and a 50-kilogram sack of cement. I want to fix our roof because in the winter, rain seeped through it into the children's room.

Because we had heavy things, I decided to take a taxi home. I am unemployed and every shekel counts, but I had no choice. The taxi cost me 50 shekels.

Map of the Area.
Map of the area.

We got to the Ramot checkpoint around 5:00. There, a border policeman ordered the driver to stop and demanded his and my ID cards. After checking them, he told me I was forbidden to enter the village in a taxi, and that I would have to continue on foot. I told him I had heavy things to carry and that my four-year-old son was with me, but he forced Malek and me to get out.

We got out and started to walk to the village, but the things were so heavy, I couldn't go more than 20 meters. I sat with Malek on the side of the road and waited for a car with Israeli plates to come by and give us a ride home. We waited about an hour and a half. Malek was cold and tired, and I spoke with him constantly so he would forget how bitterly cold and tired he was. Finally, an Arab driver came by in a car with Israeli plates. He said seeing the small child in the cold on the side of the road touched his heart, and he was kind enough to drive us right up to our house.

Amir 'Adel Ahmad 'Obeid, 31, married with three children, is a resident of a-Nabi Samwil in Ramallah District. His testimony was given to Kareem Jubran on 6 April 2008 at the witness's home.