Deacon Dave in Hebron, Palestine

17 Sep 08

Arwa and I left her parents’ house at about 8.30. When we got to the checkpoint
at the top of the hill we noticed that it was the same soldier against whom I
filed a complaint. He was talking to a settler boy on a bicycle. Arwa went
first and he checked her bag and took her ID and detained her. He told her to
stand against the wall. I went next and he checked my passport and told me to
empty my entire bag onto the ground. Then he told me to put each piece back
one by one and show each to him. The settler boy was near by the whole time we were there and he was laughing as the soldier tried to humiliate me. The

15 Sep 08

I met the same soldier who had kicked Wadea on 7 Sep and pushed me at the same checkpoint today. He made me empty my whole bag out onto the ground. He asked if I remembered him. I said of course. He told me he has the right to hit or kick anyone who does not do as he tells them. He threatened me with violence if I came inside his checkpoint area to film without his permission. He said I would see worse than the other night if I did it again. Stay behind the red lines. He demanded to see a copy of the video of him. I refused and told him his commander had told me not to sh

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.

7 Sep 08 Soldiers Assault Wadea

On Sunday night Two of Arwa’s brothers, Fahad and Wadea left their house to meet their friends and go strolling in the town centre. Around 8.50pm Arwa’s mother got a phone call from Wadea to say that he had been detained at the checkpoint at the top of the hill, just below the house. I was at their house and ten minutes later I set off with a video camera to see what was going on. As I arrived at the junction I saw Fahad arguing with two soldiers and being pushed back down the hill away from me. I started to film immediately and noticed that Wadea was being detained and sitting against the wall on my left. Once the soldiers had pushed Fahad back behind the red line on the road one of them noticed me and very angrily pushed me back behind the other red line up the hill. From here it was not possible to see Wadea as he was against the wall around the corner. While I could see both the soldiers I was not too worried but when they both went out of sight towards Wadea I was afraid they might be violent. We have had daily reports of soldier violence on this corner and at the main checkpoint down the hill. I called the police and asked them to send a patrol.

This soldier took my passport and was about to disappear in an armoured car with it when I appealed to the officer to get it back. The officer was very rude to me but did order the soldier to give my passport back.

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

3 Mar 08

2nd Day Gaza Protest
Again youths started to throw stones at the checkpoint at around 8.30.

Israeli Border Police arrest 4 Palestinians in an alleyway. Press were at hand to record the arrest. Somebody let off tear gas in the alley way and gassed everyone including the soldier.

Soldiers fired many rounds of rubber bullets. There were 40 injuries at the hospital and one killed from a protest in Dura just utside Hebron