The station is more like an armed fortress, sorrounded by barbed wire. Palestinians have to walk up to the gate and buzz the officers inside. We went up to the gate and Daoud told the police we came to make a complaint. They said they would come, to just wait.
The sun was beating down and we went to sit in a small hut. It was packed with Palestinian men who came for all sorts of reasons. Some came to make complaints, others on appointment, others to drop things off. It doesn't really matter. People wait for hours, not knowing if they will even be seen or not.
The hut is small and has a hard metal bench. There is no garbage can, so the floor is filthy and there is a pile of water bottles, wrappers, food. People sit there for sometimes an hour, sometimes 5, sometimes for the whole day before they are seen. And sometimes they are just ignored and made to come back later.
I couldn't help thinking that Israelis would not be treated in this same way. The system to me seems designed to treat Palestinians as people who are unworthy of dignity or any respect. The point is driven home as they wait like cattle for their cases to be called or not called.
After 4 hours of waiting we were called into the compound. There are several little trailers in which investigations and interrogations take place. I saw men and boys shackled and in handcuffs being marched by armed soldiers and men in civilian clothes holding pistols. We waited beside a little trailer for our investigator, Y.
Two guards walked up to us and asked what happened to me. I told them I was attacked by settlers. They asked me why I am in the West Bank, I said 'human rights work'. One of them laughed and said "welcome to Israel". They walked away laughing.
Y was very professional. He took down my story, as well as Daoud's- he received death threats from the settlers the previous day. Y wrote down my testimony and asked for details on the attacker's features. It was hard to provide since they were all masked, but he did seem to make a very sincere effort to get the facts. He told Daoud and I that the settlers make problems all the time and looked genuinely angry at what had happened. He took pictures of my face and back.
As we left, we met an elderly and kindly looking police official. He was wearing a yarmulke and was rather a small man, he looked old enough to be a grandfather. He asked me what happened and after I told him, he said he is sorry. I told him that he did not do it. He said that no, but he is sorry for his country. I was rather touched by that. We shook hands and he left.
I am frustrated often as well for some of the police and soldiers, because it is so clear that they know that what is happening is wrong and I can tell they are morally opposed to what is happening. Many of them are not monsters or sadists. They are forced to put on a uniform and defend policies that they know are wrong. I pray that they too find freedom from what they are being made to do.
Kiryat Arba police station. The Palestinian men at the gate are talking to the police. To the left you can see the waiting area.
What the floor in the waiting area looks like.
Palestinian men waiting to be admitted. The older man had over 200 of his olive trees uprooted by settlers.
Investigator's hut in the police station.
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