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Testimony of Suheir Kamal Muhammad Shhada, 17, married, resident of
'Atara, Ramallah District
Yesterday [Monday, 8 July 2002], around 10:00 A.M., my sister Samer,
14, and I left our village, which is twelve kilometers from Ramallah,
to go to Ramallah so that I could go for a check-up at the charity
medical clinic. I am in my seventh month of pregnancy. On the way,
we stopped near the Surda checkpoint, a permanent army checkpoint
about five kilometers from the city. We got out of the taxi and
walked to the checkpoint, which we wanted to cross. There were no
soldiers at the checkpoint, and we crossed to the other side and
continued walking. After we had walked about one hundred meters from
the checkpoint, I turned around and looked at the checkpoint. I saw
two army patrol vehicles that had arrived, and the soldiers were not
letting civilians pass. My sister and I continued walking, and then
we got into a taxi. The taxis usually park around 500-700 meters
from the checkpoint. The taxi took us to Ramallah. We went to the
clinic and I underwent the relevant tests.
Then we started on our way back to the village. We got to a dirt
pile at the entrance to el-Bireh. It was before the army checkpoint,
near the Best Eastern Hotel. We got out of the taxi and walked about
five hundred meters. About 150-200 meters from the checkpoint, we
came across a tent on the side of the road. There were also two army
jeeps with soldiers inside. They did not let civilians who had been
in Ramallah return to their villages, which were situated north of
the city. There were about 40-50 civilians – men and women of all
ages – stopped at the checkpoint. The two patrol vehicles started to
move toward the civilians to move them back. The civilians started
to flee toward Ramallah.
I ran like the others. Suddenly, soldiers in the jeeps opened fire.
The billet hit me in the right side of the head, above the ear. I
started to bleed profusely. I felt dizzy and nauseous. I touched my
wound and began to scream. Two men who were nearby, one of whom was
my cousin Mahmud Zahir al-'Atari, grabbed me and led me toward the
dirt pile at the entrance to el-Bireh. At the dirt pile, they put me
into a taxi, which took me to a-Sheik Zaid Hospital, in Ramallah.
The hospital was around five kilometers from the checkpoint.
I was taken to the emergency room and was examined and X-rayed. Then
I was taken to the operating room, where the physicians stitched my
wound, which was two centimeters long. The physicians later told me
that the wound was superficial. They said it had been caused by a
rubber bullet. Then I was taken into another room to check the
condition of the fetus. The physicians told me that I was in good
condition. I am still under medical supervision, and I don’t know
how long I will have to stay in the hospital. My sister Samer has
been staying with me.
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