Testimonies

Mustafa Shuli, taxi driver

For twelve years, I've been driving a taxi on the Nablus-‘Asira a-Shamaliya route. On Monday, 26 January, at around 9:00 A.M., I got to Checkpoint 17, which separates ‘Asira a-Shamaliya from Nablus. Seven passengers were in the car. There were about thirty cars in line at the checkpoint, which surprised me. Soldiers took a long time, more than ten minutes, searching each car. They removed all the passengers and checked everyone's ID cards. There aren't always checks at this checkpoint. Sometimes, ten days can pass without a check, and sometimes there are checks that take a long time and delay everybody.

There was an army jeep next to the checkpoint, and about six soldiers standing next to it. The checkpoint had another four soldiers or so.

After waiting in line for an hour, there were only five cars left in front of us. At that point, a taxi driver I know, who works the same route, pulled up. He told me he had a broken clutch, so he couldn't wait in line. I let him go by me. He stopped in front of me. A soldier came over to us and told him to go to the end of the line. He drove to the end of the line, which now totaled about forty cars. Then the soldier told me to go back as well. I said to him, “What did I do? I've been waiting for more than an hour.” He kicked the car and shouted, “Get out of here.” I didn't move. A soldier from the jeep came over, grabbed me by the collar, and shouted in Hebrew, “Go back.”

I realized the soldiers were looking to make trouble, so I turned around and went to the end of the line. A driver in the middle of the line, who knew I had already waited a long time, motioned to me to enter in front of him. There were about fifteen cars in front of him. I stopped in front of him, and then the two soldiers who had shouted at me earlier came over and told me to go to the end of the line. I said I wouldn't. The soldier who had kicked the car hit me a few times in the shoulder with his rifle butt. I realized I didn't have any choice, and I went to the end of the line.

The jeep drove behind me, and the soldier who had kicked the car and the soldier who had grabbed me by the collar both got out. They stood a few meters from us and aimed their rifles at us. The passengers in the car put their hands on their heads out of fear. The soldiers shouted, “Get out of here!” I immediately turned around, and then the soldiers shouted, “Don't come here!” I asked the passengers to get out and go with somebody else, and then I drove to ‘Asira a-Shamaliya.

I remained at home the rest of the day. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to go back to the checkpoint, fearing they'd shoot me. I have four children and have to think about them. I have to support them.

Other taxi drivers told me that the soldiers conducted long searches of the cars crossing the checkpoint until 2:00 P.M. Then they left and everybody crossed without being checked.

Mustafa Suliman Mustafa Shuli, 47, married with four children, is a taxi driver and a resident of 'Asira a-Shamaliya in Nablus District. His testimony was given to Salma a-Deba'i at a parking lot in Nablus on 5 February 2009.