Gideon Levy, Haaretz, Apr 18, 2008
This article was originally published by Haaretz and is republished with permission.
A horse is tied to an Israeli vehicle and confiscated for unknown reasons in Qalqilia. (Khaleel Reash, Maan Images)
At about midnight, the house was surrounded by soldiers. Mohammed Abu Arkub, a barber, woke up frightened at the sound of loud knocking on the door and the shouts demanding it be opened. Abu Arkub rushed to open the door and the soldiers pulled him outside and ordered him to take all the members of the household outside immediately. His wife Lubna and his two young daughters were sleeping, along with Lubna's two younger sisters, who live with them. He woke them up and ordered them to go outside. His brother, Rami, who lives alone in the adjacent hut, was also called to go outside.
The night of March 19, the village of Wadi al-Shajneh in the South Hebron Hills, south of the town of Dura. The family stood outside for about 10 minutes, half asleep in the cold night air, and then the soldiers ordered them to all go inside Rami's hut. Two soldiers stood at the door, guarding the family so they wouldn't go out. The rest of the soldiers in the force entered the home of the barber and his wife and began to conduct a search. Abu Akrub asked to be present during the search, but the soldiers prevented him from doing so. The routine of the occupation.
The soldiers were followed by female soldiers accompanied by dogs, while the family remained crowded into Rami's room. The search took about an hour and a half. Then the soldiers took everyone out to the yard. Mohammed asked to bring blankets for his young daughters, but the soldiers refused. An Israel Defense Forces commander took Mohammed aside and interrogated him. They were looking for weapons in the house, and the barber told them there were no weapons in the house.
"You're lying," said the officer, but Mohammed said to him: "You searched and you didn't find anything." He says the officer hit him. The family remained outside for about another half an hour, and then they were once again put into Rami's room, and this time the door was closed. Things continued like that until almost 2 A.M.
When Mohammed thought the soldiers had left, he opened the door and went outside. Together with his wife they rushed to their house, which is right next to Rami's, where they had been held. The household items were scattered on the floor. The television and the computer were shattered, as were several kitchen items and vases. Lubna hurried to the box with her gold jewelry, where she keeps the gifts she received from Mohammed for their marriage, four years ago. There is such a box in every Palestinian home. The box was thrown on the floor. Lubna's cheap jewelry was scattered, but the gold jewelry had disappeared. Necklaces and bracelets that had been saved from the wedding - their most important assets - were not found. The family searched and searched and didn't find them.
Mohammed still has the old receipt from the Sharha jewelry shop in Hebron: 200 grams of gold that were purchased at the time at a cost of 23 Jordanian dinars per gram. At the prices then: about NIS 30,000. Rami, a strapping young man who works for a stonecutter, was upset. He wanted to go out and chase the soldiers. Mohammed tried to stop him, but failed. Rami ran down the path toward the four army jeeps that were still parked in the village. "You stole the gold," shouted Rami at the soldiers, and soon a fight developed. Rami sat inside the jeep and said he wouldn't leave until the gold was returned to its owners. He wanted the Civil Administration to be called, but his wish wasn't granted. The soldiers pushed him out and left. They didn't arrest him, as is usual, for the crime of attacking soldiers. Mohammed wrote down the number of one of the jeeps, 252126 that was written on its side, and 4760 on its license plates.
The elder daughter is named Yakut, precious stone in Hebrew. After the soldiers left, Mohammed phoned the Palestinian civil liaison office and asked to file a complaint. There they referred him to the Israeli liaison office. He also turned to the B'Tselem headquarters in Hebron, where he was instructed to submit a complaint to the Kiryat Arba police. After overcoming his fears, he turned to the Kiryat Arba police on March 23. He arrived at police headquarters at 9:30 A.M., but was allowed to enter only after a humiliating five-hour wait.
lots more...
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