Harassment of Palestinian Non-Violent activists – part one

Mansur’s Testimony

I decided to join some of my international friends and sleep in the new Palestinian houses built on the land that will be cut off from Bil’in by the wall. We were hanging out and chatting when an Israeli military jeep showed up around 8pm. After they left we went to sleep. At 3am, the Israeli jeep showed up again and I woke up to see who it was. They asked for my ID and then they left for around 20 minutes. On returning they told me to go to Ofer prison after 6 hours.

The morning came, and I start walking to the village, having to pass the construction site of the wall. Two Israeli security men stopped me and threatened that they will shoot people if we kept annoying them by coming to and from the Palestinian houses on the “wrong” side of the wall. I couldn’t argue with them because I didn’t want to be late for the interrogation in Ofer prison as it would result in a black point in my file.

I reached Ofer and waited about 1 hour outside until the soldiers called me and started searching me. They put me in a room with a camera on the wall where I stayed about an hour and a half, until they called me in. An Israeli soldier came who seemed to be nice .He informed me that his name was Captain Amjad and asked if I wanted something to drink. I replied “no thanks, I had some”,”What is your name?” he asked “Mansour Mansour” “What is your work?” “Different things” He started by pretending that he was a nice person talking in a friendly way. He said that he wouldn’t interrogate me but wanted to talk as “friends”. Of course, we Palestinians know this scenario and have much experience with these tactics. He asked me how I survive. , how I get money? what had I achieved ?.Who I was working with? Who are my friends and what was my relationship with the internationals? He asked about my group and about our relationship with Hamas. He asked what I was doing in Bil’in, in Bit Sira and in Aboud and wanted to know how we contacted internationals to join us. He asked many other questions which were intended to make me feel that they knew everything about me.

In fact I felt bored whilst he was questioning me, as both of us knew why I was there and why they wanted to interrogate me.

And some point I told him that he should be smarter than to believe his lying soldiers. He then spat in my mouth and told me to think again before they changed their “nice way”. He left the room and then two huge soldiers came in. They looked at me as if I were something disgusting and told me :” IT SEEMS YOU PREFER THE OTHER WAY OF TALKING, WE DON’T HAVE THAT NICE WAY OF THE FIRST GUY WHO WAS TALKING WITH YOU.” They held my arm and then pushed me against the wall. They hit me against the wall twice. Hard. I said “why are you doing that ?, I didn’t do anything wrong. They told me to shut up. Before long Captain Amjad came back and started questioning me about Hamas. He asked many questions, including what I would do with the new government, how I would work with them, what contact I have with them.

He told me that he would check what I said with my cousin who would be interrogated the following morning in the same place. They then gave me my stuff and led me out of the prison.

I walked calmly and didn’t look back. I expect I will be back. I headed for my house it had been a hard day and I needed to relax. I’m not trying to ignore their humiliating treatment or forget how they violated my human rights but I want to keep on doing effective work for our oppressed people. What they did to me actually inspires me to continue.

Youth, 17, says shot in the eye by Border Police officers

By Jonathan Lis
Originally published in Haaretz

Matan Cohen, an Israeli demonstrator against the separation fence, told Haaretz on Saturday that doctors are not sure if he will be able to see out of his eye again after he was reportedly shot the day before by a Border Police officer during a protest.

Cohen said he was shot Friday in his eye with a rubber bullet during clashes between anti-fence demonstrators and Israeli security forces in the West Bank village of Beit Sira, southwest of Ramallah. He was taken to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.

“We went to a nonviolent demonstration against the separation fence on portions of the village land. We reached an agreement with the military representative that the demonstration would remain nonviolent. We told them we wanted no confrontations. The request was honored until a Border Police force arrived,” Cohen said.

“At that point, the clashes began and the Border Police officers fired live fire into the air and rubber bullets from point blank range. Ten officers then began running toward the demonstrators that had already begun dispersing. Me and three other international activists were standing far from the demonstrators. A Border Police officer stood 20 meters from me, and I heard him cock his weapon. I yelled to him, ‘Don’t shoot, nobody is endangering you,’ but he shot. I felt a sharp pain in my eye, lost my vision and fainted.”

“He simply shot me in the head. The bullet hit half a centimeter above my eye. It’s utter contempt for human life, when in the name of the defense of something or other the army has a right to hurt demonstrators,” Cohen continued.

Border Police sources refused to respond to the statements, saying that only Israel Defense Forces spokespeople had the authority to respond to the affair. IDF sources said a preliminary examination revealed Cohen was injured by a stone thrown by an unruly demonstrator. They said that since he was standing closer to the forces than to the demonstrators, it is likely that he was hit by demonstrators aiming for forces.

IDF sources also said that the demonstration in Beit Sira, along with one nearby in Abud, constituted a violation of order because the area had been declared a closed military zone. The demonstrators said the sources threw stones at the security forces, which prompted the dispersal by security forces.

During the clashes, three soldiers were lightly injured in Abud and one in Beit Sira.

Injured anti-fence ‘anarchist’ speaks out

by Meital Yasur Beit-Or
Originally published at Ynet.com

Matan Cohen after being shot in the eye by a 'rubber bullet'

Matah Cohen has sustained eye injuries while protesting the security fence near Ramallah; Says: ‘I feel like the blood of Left-wing activists is cheap’

Matan Cohen, 17, from Tel Aviv, and a member of the “Anarchists Against the Fence” organization, was injured while demonstrating against the security fence near Ramallah.

“My feeling is that the blood of Left-wing activists and the Palestinians is cheap,” he said.

Cohen was shot by Border Police and injured in his eye, and has been hospitalized in the Tel Hashomer Medical Center since Friday.

If bleeding does not stop within 24 hours, Cohen will undergo surgery. In either case, doctors believe his eye has sustained damage. In the best case, his visual range will be affected, and in the worst case, he would lose complete vision in the eye. “Up until now I can’t see out of the eye, and they’ll be able to see if there’s damage only in a few days. I’m worried about damage in my eye and I really hope the bleeding stops,” said Cohen.

Members of the organization have begun documenting their demonstrations due to past experiences with violence. “We have recordings of an army commander who said that he doesn’t want the situation to turn violent, and who tried to calm things down, saying not to shoot. But a Border Police is also heard saying ‘shoot everyone one of them with a rubber bullet.’ When I was shot I was standing with three people, within around a 20 meter range from a Border Police force. We said: ‘Don’t shoot, we are not threatening you and we are not endangering you,’ but they opened fire, and also directed it to the head, violating all of their rules of engagement. I felt the impact in the eye, and with the remainder of my strength, I managed to run from them. My entire hand and head were filled with blood,” said Cohen.

‘No connection to Amona’

Cohen says there is no connection between violence of soldiers against Right-wing demonstrators in Amona and Left-wing demonstrators: “In our demonstrations, they shoot live bullets in order to kill. In Right-wing demonstrations, no gas or shock grenades have ever been thrown. This is violence which is many times larger. The feeling is our blood is cheap. But violence which takes place when the life of a police officer is not under threat should be condemned, it doesn’t matter from which side it occurs.”

Three soldiers and Border Police officers were injured by rocks thrown at them. One police officer was taken to hospital.

According to police, two disturbances of the peace took place on Friday in the Ramallah area, as part of protests against the construction of the security fence. Hundreds of Palestinians, Left-wing activists, and foreigners took part in the disturbances, whom entered a closed military zone. Demonstrators threw rocks at security forces, who responded with crowd dispersal means.

Soldier lost eye

A few months ago, a soldier lost his left eye in similar protests after a rock was thrown at him by demonstrators.

Cohen, who completed his high school studies, has been taking part in protests against the route of the fence for three years, and says he witnessed harsh violence on the part of soldiers and Police officers. “The approach is that it’s legitimate to fire at demonstrators, even when they are nonviolent. The IDF and Border Police use live ammunition, tear gas, and rubber bullets, and hundreds of people have been injured in this period. In yesterday’s demonstration another 11 Palestinians were injured, one of them was even operated on at a hospital in Ramallah,” he said.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
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Read the ISM report on Matan’s shooting here.

Take a Virtual Tour of the 2006 Balata Invasion


Inside a home that was first set on fire, then exploded to kill three fighters hiding inside.


A Palestinian-built roadblock on Balata Camp’s main street obstructs the movement of military vehicles.


Breaking curfew, a woman escorts four children past army vehicles.


A 17-year-old is carried through the streets in a funeral procession to honor him and another boy the same age. The two martyrs were unarmed, watching the invasion from a rooftop when an Israeli sniper shot them in the neck and face.


After two of their friends are buried, a group of boys decorate the grave and pay their respects.


A Palestinian medical volunteer bleeds from a gunshot to the the head he received during an attack on a group of international and local medics, press, and civilians.


A medic grips his friend’s vest, showing that he was visibly a volunteer.


A wounded medic lays in an ambulance.


Military vehicles stop an ambulance from carrying a medical volunteer to the hospital to treat a bullet wound to his head. When media cameras arrived several minutes later, the vehicles finally allowed the ambulance through. Shortly afterward soldiers stopped the ambulance again, removed the unconscious man and placed him under arrest, taking him to a nearby military base.


Shrapnel is removed from a Dutch woman’s shoulder after she and an American volunteer were injured by an explosive.

Going ‘Home’

by Hannah

I arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Lod (aka the airport in Tel Aviv) just after 5:00 am for a 7:25 flight. This is about the amount of time I had last time, when security didn’t have enough time to check me and I ended up flying without my luggage and never receiving some of it. So, I got in the first line before baggage check and the Israeli security woman asked, “What was the purpose of your visit to Israel?”

“Look,” I responded, “my bags are going to be checked by the police, so I’m wondering if you can just take me straight to security so my bags don’t get loaded onto the plane and then taken off again.”

She was a little taken aback. I don’t think people do this very often. “Why do you get checked?” she asked, seeming not quite to believe me.

“Because I go to the West Bank.”

“Just a minute,” she said, and walked off to consult her fellow security people. From that moment on, I felt totally in control, and it was great. It took about a minute before someone else came over and asked, “What were you doing in the West Bank?”

I borrowed my reply from Dunya: “My bags are going to be checked and then I’m going to get on the plane to go, and I don’t really have anything to say to you in the meantime.”

When she repeated the question, not unkindly, I said, “I was traveling around and visiting people. I’m not going to say anymore, can you just take me to the police?”

And they did.

They searched me and my bags, checked me into my flight, escorted me through all the lines (because I’m a security threat, you see, I can’t walk through the airport on my own), and everything was finished within 45 minutes! It was great – I really recommend this strategy upon exit for those in the same/similar boat as me.

Perhaps this experience made me a little too bold. Upon entering the U.S., all I wrote in the “countries visited prior to the US” section of the customs form was “Palestine.” I never really noticed before that they actually look at those things. They do.

I have to say it was gratifying for a U.S. customs official to ask, “Did you visit anywhere other than Palestine on your trip?” but other than that, it was a bit of a hassle. I got a big “S” on my form and was taken aside for my bags to be checked. The man was friendly, but a little too chatty about the political situation, Hamas, Fatah, how Palestinians view Americans, and other things that I’m usually happy to share with anyone, but in the current political climate, I wasn’t quite sure about with a US border official.

Unlike the Israeli security, who these days seriously seem to be looking more for explosives than information, this guy was definitely looking for information. He had no interest in my clothing or anything else, only paper materials. He asked me to translate Arabic posters, read every scrap of paper, every page of my notebook.

“When you wrote about Gaza here and you said ‘Jihad very small’ what does that mean?”

“It means that the Islamic Jihad movement has a very small presence in Gaza.”

He was far more intrusive than Israeli security. I said, “Can I ask you why you’re reading every paper? I think that’s unusual for security.” “I’m not security,” he responded. He was the border police.

When he opened the 10 pounds of spices and plants that a friend’s family had given me to take to her, I was a little nervous. I had just told him there were no food products in my bag and of course I had answered “no” on the customs form when they asked about agricultural products. “What’s this?” he asked. “A spice,” I responded. He called the agricultural people over, two very young women. They glanced at the bag and said, “Um, I think this is fine.” And that was that. Nothing was taken from me.

He finished searching my things, handed me my passport, and said, “Welcome home.”

And so, here I am – “home.”