'Abd a-Salam Abu Khdeir, taxi driverof confiscated taxi, age 33
I work on the A-Ram line in an orange, 1985, Mercedes taxi, licensed by the Palestinian Authority. On Monday, July 15, at around 6:30 AM, I drove from A-Ram toward the Qalandyia checkpoint. Halfway there, in front of Al-Qawasmi, I came across two Border Police jeeps. There were about ten Border Police officers near them. An officer ordered me to turn off the engine and hand over the keys and my ID card. He made me stand aside without moving or speaking.
While I was waiting, about ten other orange taxis were detained. I know some of the drivers: Ja'afer Isma'il Mu'afeq from Jaba, 'Ali from Jaba and Abu Iyad from Beit Liqya. There were Mercedes, Ford Transit and Peugeot taxis. At around 7:00 AM, we had to follow a Border Police jeep in one row and another jeep drove behind us. We were taken to a Border Police base around Atarot. There were more taxis there. They made us park the car outside the base, because there wasn't enough space for all the detained taxis. There were close to thirty taxis parked in the base's yard. I parked the car in front of the base. The drivers were told to leave their taxis and come back on Thursday, at 8:00 AM. We got our ID cards and cell phones back. When we asked the officers why our cabs had been confiscated, they didn't answer and told us to leave the place.
On Thursday, July 18, 2002, at 8:00 AM, I returned with other drivers. I saw more than fifty taxis that had been confiscated. About 25 of them were outside the base, and their tires had no air. My taxi was one of these. I heard one of the taxi owners asking the officers who were at the station about the reason for this. The soldiers didn't respond and told him to shut up.
At around 9:00, after an hour long wait, we were allowed inside where we received our keys one by one. I heard one of the commanders telling us to leave the area in ten minutes. He said anyone delaying, would be jailed. It should be noted that it takes time to inflate the tires of 25 taxis. I took the keys, inflated the tires with an electric pump the other drivers had brought, and left the place.
'Abd a-Salam Kamel Abu Khdeir, born in 1969, is a resident of 'Abwein. He is married and works as a taxi driver. The testimony was taken by Iyad Hadad, on July 18, 2002. (The testimony was given by phone due to the curfew imposed in the Occupied Territories)