Shaf'a Ghanem, victim, aged 41
am married and have six children: Alaa, aged fourteen, Sara and Ghanem, aged twelve, Saja aged seven, Sanaa, and Sabaa, two years old. We live in Kafr Qud, near the western water-well. On Monday, 2 September 2002, at around 2:00 A.M., I woke up to the sound of noises near the house. I was sure it was the sound of tanks and smaller vehicles. The rest of the family were asleep. I looked out the window and saw a large number of soldiers, military vehicles and tanks.
At around 4:00 in the morning I heard my neighbor, Ibrahim a-Sheikh Hassan, calling me. He was knocking on my door. I asked him what he wanted and he told me the army wants me. I opened the door of my house and saw three soldiers pointing their weapons at me. They were about three to four meters south of the house's door. It was a scary sight. One of the soldiers, probably the commander, demanded my I.D. I told him it was inside. I tried to go inside the house to bring it, but the soldier said I should ask someone inside the house to get it for me. I asked my wife, whom I had woken up earlier to get my I.D and the commander took it from me. He started asking me questions as I was standing at the front of the house. He asked me about my neighbors and then asked for the location of my nephew, Mahmud's house. I pointed at the house and the commander asked about my nephews' occupation. I told him he was a surveyor and works in Jenin. The commander required that I go with the soldiers to the house of my nephew, Mahmud Ghanem. Three or four soldiers walked behind me while pointing their rifles at me. I walked about fifty meters until we reached Mahmuds' house. On the way, I saw a large group of soldiers, I think there were more than fifty. They were scattered underneath some trees and around the corners of the houses near Mahmuds' house. The soldiers were on alert and had their fingers on the triggers.
I knocked on Mahmuds' door. My mother in law, who was staying at his house that night, answered me. I told her to ask Mahmud to get dressed and come out because the army wants him. The soldiers stood in front of the house and ordered me to sit next to a group of neighbors, whom the soldiers had taken out of their houses at an earlier stage, and I sat where they pointed. The neighbors who were there were 'Izz a-Din Muhammad Ghanem, aged 38, his wife, Fayza Ghaleb Ghanem and their children; a women of about 70; Muhammad Ibrahim Ghanem, aged 65 and his wife. Muhammad Ghanem is handicapped and sits in a wheel chair. The soldiers also ordered another young man, who was on top of the roof of his house, to sit with us as well.
The soldiers detained me for about a half an hour. Then, the commander who had taken away my I.D. gave it back to me and erased my name off the paper he had in his hand. After the tanks, the military vehicles and the soldiers who were dispersed in the area had retreated, I returned to my house.
Shaf'a Mahmud Shaf'a Ghanem, age 41, is married, and works as a teacher. He is a resident of Kafr Qud, Jenin District, the West Bank. The testimony was taken by 'Atef Abu A-Rob, in Kafr Qud, on 3 September 2002.