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I
live in Arraba, a village near Jenin. Today [14 May 2003], I went
with my cousin Ahmad ‘Arrada to the Jenin refugee camp to pick up
his mother, sister, and his sister’s eighteen-month-old son. They
had been visiting Ahmad’s married sister, who lives in the camp. We
then started back to Arraba.
When we reached the eastern exit of the camp, I saw three armed
individuals who were dressed in civilian clothes and had masks on. I
thought they were young Palestinians. They fired at our car. One
bullet hit the front windshield and penetrated into the car.
Miraculously, nobody was injured.
Ahmad stopped the car. I got out with my hands raised. We were about
ten meters from the armed men. Alongside them were Israeli soldiers
in uniform. I then realized that the individuals in civilian clothes
were Israeli soldiers. Two or three of the Israelis who were wearing
civilian clothing approached us. They led Ahmad and me to a house
which was surrounded by many soldiers. The two women and the baby
stayed in the car. The soldiers ordered Ahmad to park the car
opposite the entrance to the house. When he came back, the soldiers
ordered him and me to kneel in front of the entrance to the house
and covered our eyes with pieces of cloth. At the same time, I heard gunfire, which I think was aimed at the
Israeli soldiers. I couldn't see who was shooting and where they
were shooting from. I heard the soldiers shooting back. One of them
told me to kneel. He knelt behind me and shot two or three bullets
over my head. Then he took me to another place. I later realized
that he had taken me behind a wall that surrounds the house. The
soldier again kneeled behind me, but he did not fire.
All this time, the soldiers continued shooting. I think that they
also fired machine guns because the gunfire sounded more intense.
The soldiers were continually calling to the people in the house to
come outside. I heard people shouting, and the soldiers asking them
what their names were.
The incident continued for about two hours. It began around 2:30 -
2:45 P.M. and ended around 4:30. During this two-hour period, the
soldiers moved me from place to place.
At some stage, one of the soldiers removed my blindfold and ordered
me to go into the house. He pointed out a door of a room inside the
house and told me in Arabic to go into the room and remove the small
children from the house. I told him that I did not know the people
in the house, and that I did not consent to go inside. Then a
Palestinian journalist named Sausan came over to us. He said to the
soldier, "I will go inside.” A woman foreigner was with the
journalist. The soldier shouted at her to lie down on the ground.
Then the soldier pushed me over to the wall surrounding the house
and had me stand there. Another soldier blindfolded me once again.
When the soldiers finished, they gave me back the car keys and told
me to leave with the two women and the infant, who had remained in
the car all this time. Ahmad was detained with some other
individuals. I drove them to the hospital in Jenin.
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