Muhamad Abu 'Eid, taxi driver of confiscated taxi
I own an orange, 2002, Ford Transit taxi, licensed by the Palestinian Authority. I drive between A-Ram and the villages south of Ramallah in area B, which is under Palestinian civil control, according to the agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
On Monday morning, July 15, at around 7:00 AM, I left my village and headed toward A-Ram. On the way, I came across a roadblock, which was unexpectedly put up by two Border Police vehicles. About twenty soldiers put a barbed wire roadblock near the Atorot junction, on the Bir Nabala road. One of the soldiers ordered me to turn off the engine, get out of the taxi and hand over the keys and my ID card. He also took the cellular phone charger and told me to stand aside, close to two other taxi drivers who had been detained before me. He ordered me not to move or talk. When I asked the soldier why I had been detained, he answered in Arabic: "Shut up. Don't talk." Most of the soldiers at the roadblock were Border Police and spoke Arabic. I did as the officer told me, stood aside and waited. While I was waiting, the Border Police officers stopped more orange taxis and ordered their drivers to do the same as I did. This went on until 9:00 in the morning, when there were about 15 taxis detained. I know some of the drivers: Muhamad Hamed Ramadan, Munuar Radad, Anuar Radad, Anuar Suleiman' Anuar al-Qasuani, Taysir a-Tirawi, Ahmad Fatuta, Ahmad Saker, Muhamad Hussein a-Jadarawi, 'Amer 'Abd al-'Aal, Abu Salah al-Katanawi and two more drivers from Jaba whom I don't know. There was also a driver from Al Jib named Yasser.
At 9:00, a third Border Police jeep arrived at the place and two female officers got out. They started making fun of us and verbally abusing us, saying things like: "You stink, quiet." I came up to who I thought was the commander. He had a badge on his shoulder and was giving out orders. I complained about the two female soldiers. I told him that it wasn' t nice that they were laughing at us. We are older than them and deserve respect. I felt that he took the complaint seriously, because he spoke to the two officers in Hebrew and they didn't repeat their behavior. One of them was more abusive than the other. She had dark skin. She was tall and plump. She looked between the ages of 22 and 24.
She came up to us and gave us back our keys. The commander told us to get in the taxis and drive in a row after them. We took the Bir Nabala road to A-Ram and from there to the Border Police base in Atarot. There were other taxis in the yard. We stopped and got out of the taxis near the base. The commander gave us back our ID cards and our cell phones. But he took the keys again. I asked him again why he was confiscating our taxis and he said: "Go away and come back at 8 o'clock in the morning on Thursday to find out." He didn't answer my question and told me to leave the place. I left the base with the rest of the drivers. There were over forty of us.
On Thursday, July 18, 2002, at around 8:00 AM, I went back to and found my taxi and more than twenty others outside the Border Police base. The air had been taken out of the tires. The rest of the drivers arrived as well, and we waited in front of the base until one of the commanders came up to us. He told us to get inside one by one to get back the keys. I asked him in Arabic: "Why did you do that to the tires?" He answered: "If you don't have air, blow it up with your mouth." I didn't answer and went to get the keys from another commander. He handed them to me and demanded I leave the place in ten minutes. I asked: "How do you expect me to leave in ten minutes when the tires are empty." I added: "Why are you doing this to us?" The officer said: "You taxi drivers are always in the way of the officers in the roadblocks." I said: "What gives you the right to accuse all of us?" He said: "We received information that all of you get in the way of the soldiers at Qalandia and A-Ram." One of the drivers ordered an electric pump. I inflated the tyres and I then left in my taxi.
Muhamad Ibrahim Salem Abu 'Eid, born in 1951, is married. He lives in Biddu and works as a taxi driver. The testimony was taken by Iyad Hadad, on July 18, 2002.