Deacon Dave in Hebron, Palestine

23 Aug 08

Two men were detained by the soldiers at the crossing checkpoint in Tel Rumeida at around 6.15. They were Marwan Jamjun and Imad Jamjun, brothers visiting their relatives at the crossing in Tel Rumeida. One had recently had surgery and they were in a hurry. They had an engine block with them and needed to get to the shop before it closed. They argued with the soldiers who tried to detain them. For this reason they were both blindfolded and handcuffed and had their heads beaten against the wall of an apartment building.

They were held for an hour until I arrived and called the police, who arrived and took them both away. The soldiers lied and said the Palestinians had hit them. The Palestinians have been charged with assault even though they were the ones who were assaulted. Witnesses were afraid to come forward because in the past police have passed names and addresses back to the soldiers who have visited their homes and taken reprisals.

Two men were detained by soldiers at the crossing in Tel Rumeida at around 6.15. they were Marwan Jamjun and Imad Jamjun, brothers visiting relatives in Tel Rumeida. One had
recently had surgery and they were in a hurry. They argued with the soldiers
who tried to detain them. For this reason they were both blindfolded and
handcuffed and had their heads beaten against the wall of an appartment
building. They were held for an hour until I arrived and
called the police, who arrived and took them both away.

Two other men were taken away by soldiers in the direction of the army camp in

Weds 19 Mar

We all got calls from Al Tawani asking for international support there as the Israeli army was demolishing homes. I agreed to stay with Mohammad and everyone else took off for Al Tawani. 9 homes in four small villages were demolished using Caterpillar bulldozers and 2 caves were blocked off.

Those internationals left in Hebron took turns to be at Mohammad’s house. Around 4pm Arwa and I were alerted that the soldiers were back so we rushed over. There were about 20 soldiers and several Israeli police. By the time we arrived the internationals had been cleared from the courtyard. There were about 12 of us. We could see most of what was happening over a wall. After a lot of arguing police physically evicted Mohammad and his wife while his 3 small children were screaming. They then moved all the furniture and belongings into the kitchen, locked all the doors and welded shut the new metal ones. They say the family can access the kitchen in 14 days time. In the meantime the courtyard has been sealed off. Mohammad was arrested and ordered to pay 500 shekels for assaulting 2 police officers which he says he never did.

Assault by Soldiers

Dear friends,

Bad news, I’m afraid. I have been assaulted again by Israeli soldiers and Border Police. No lasting damage though. It all started with a silly dispute over my passport. I came through the checkpoint from the market and the soldier asked to see my passport. I showed it to him but refused to let go of it. Soldiers have the right to see passports but not to take them away. I told him that. He said he would detain me. I told him to call the police. Only they have the right to take passports and detain internationals. I walked away. One of the soldiers ran after me and stopped me. He let go again so I carried on walking up the hill. He stopped me again and I told him I needed to be with the soldiers at the top of the hill. It was time for the children to come out of school and I needed to watch them safely past the settlement. He walked with me up the hill. At the top he said something to me in Hebrew and I told him wher I would sit down. He kicked me. I sat down. The other two soldiers came over and they insisted on handcuffing me with a plastic cable tie.

At 8am I received a call from Rabbis for Human Rights to say that the Israeli army had already begun a house demolition on the edge of Halhoul with a possibility that more houses would be destroyed. Three of us set off for Halhoul, a small town just outside Hebron, immediately. When we got there we discovered that the demolition had begun at 7 am and there was not much left of the house. A large crowd of Palestinians had gathered and Israeli Border Police were keeping everyone well back from the 2 Caterpillar diggers.

The house was still under construction and was owned by Ahmed Ibrahim Assouni Abu Yousef. He did have the correct permits from the municipality of Halhoun but the army said it was too close to the main road to Bethlehem. In fact it was more than 400 metres from the road.

Friday 24th No 06
Shabbat Trespass on Abu Haikal Land

The Abu Haikals had heard that the settlers were planning to trespass on their land again for a Shabbat celebration. A Human Rights Worker visiting in the Abu Haikal house called the DCO ( District Co-ordinating Office) to ask what the plans were for this, since last weeks trespass had clearly been co-ordinated with police and soldiers and presumably the DCO. The DCO hung up several times and refused to answer questions. Eventually they said that they knew nothing about this.

Later at the house I noticed 2 soldiers on the garden path behind the house at 4.40pm. Looking closer I realized that there were also 4 adult settlers and a child standing at the top of the stairs next to the military post on Abu Haikal land. Another HRW began filming from below and pointed out that there were more settlers coming up the stairs from Tel Rumeida settlement. Soldiers made no attempt to stop them.

An innocent bystander, he lost his front teeth

19 Oct 06
View from the window first thing this morning. Patrols through the streets happen throughout the day.