Meeting Police and Army CO
Next day Wadea and I filed a complaint at Qiryat Arba police station. It took all day as the police never answer their phones or open the gate to Palestinians. Even inside the police station we had to wait a further hour in the sun. Eventually we filed a complaint, made witness statements and handed over a copy of the video to police. They said they will pass the investigation over to the military police.
Afterwards Inspector Ilan Malke asked me to meet him at the Cave of Machpela Police Station and show him the video as he wanted to meet with the Commanding Officer of the Tel Rumeida soldiers in an attempt to stop all the abuse and violence from the soldiers.
Captain Dagan did not say too much. He refused to shake my hand. He was not impressed by the quality of the video but he could see that a kicking had occurred. He said he would talk to all his soldiers and get them to stop the abusive language and violence. Inspector Malke was keen to point out that Captain dagan is an excellent officer and would make every effort to keep the peace in Tel Rumeida. I said I was only interested in everyone being able to leave peacefully and they agreed that that was their aim too. I told the Captain that the soldier kept stopping me from filming and he agreed that I have the right to film so long us I do not interrupt the soldiers work or get too close to them so as to distract them. He said I was welcome to contact him if there was further trouble.
There has been no improvement in soldiers’ behaviour since this meeting. At least 2 Palestinians have been beaten, one of them hospitalized and one a 14 year old boy. There are endless pointless delays at the checkpoints. Two separate soldiers had told me that the reason for the aggressive behaviour in Tel Rumeida is orders from their commander.
