Today, at around 6:00 A.M., I went around the Gilo checkpoint. I do that every day to get to the Musrara neighborhood, where the contractor picks me up. I went on foot to the main road. About a hundred meters from the checkpoint, towards Jerusalem, there was a police cruiser directing traffic. Nobody paid any attention to it, and lots of workers without permits continued to pass by on their way to work. I stood there waiting for my ride to Jerusalem. After about ten minutes, a Border Police jeep pulled up from the direction of Gilo. I was on the other side of the road. The other workers and I ran into the valley when the jeep pulled up. There were four or five officers inside. They got out and started to chase us. Suddenly I saw an officer two meters from me. I tried to run away but failed.
The police officer caught me. He had very dark skin and was about 170 centimeters tall. He was thin and had black hair and eyes. He had an M16 rifle. He started beating me right away, without asking me anything about an identity card or permit. He slapped and kicked me. He kicked me mostly in the right leg. The beating lasted for about fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, the other police officers chased the other workers.
Then he pushed me down a steep, rocky slope. I fell several meters down the side, and flipped over several times. I couldn’t stop until my head hit a rock. The fall injured my nose, ear, left shoulder and left leg. I tried to get up and then the police officer threw a large stone at me, but he missed. He started to fire tear gas at the other workers. The other officers also fired tear gas.
I tried to walk but couldn’t. Some workers picked me up and carried me to a warehouse that belongs to the Bethlehem Municipality near the checkpoint. Someone there called an ambulance, which took me to al-Hussein Hospital in Beit Jala. At the hospital, they cleaned the blood off me and gave me first aid. Then they took X-rays and found my right ankle was broken. They put my leg in a cast. I stayed at the hospital until 11:00 P.M. Officials from the DCO came to the hospital and I gave them a detailed statement.
Near the Gilo Checkpoint, East Jerusalem, on 21 July 1997
The testimony was given to Fouad Abu Hamed on 21 July 1997
I have been working for an Israeli contractor as a painter in Neve Ya’akov for the past month or so. I don’t have a permit to enter Israel. I applied three times, but each application was rejected.
I felt frustrated and angry because of what happened to me. There was no justification for it. I had done nothing to upset the police officer who attacked me. To this day, I thank God I survived, because the attack could have cost me my life.
I was released from hospital the same day, but was confined to the house for three months because of the broken leg. The signs of the attack were still visible on various parts of my body, and to this day I suffer from pain in my right foot, especially when I get tired. Sometimes it’s also hard for me to walk.
A B’Tselem researcher came to my home back then, took my testimony and photographed my injuries. He told me a complaint would be filed because of the incident. About ten days later, when I was still using crutches, I went with him to Checkpoint 300, where I gave a statement about what had happened. After I recovered, I was summoned to the DCO, where I gave another statement. They showed me pictures of black Border Police officers and I indicated three, but I wasn’t sure.
A while later, I received a letter in which the Israelis said they apologized for what happened, but because I didn’t recognize the police officer who assaulted me, the case was closed. I don’t think closing the case was justified, just like the attack wasn’t justified. Thank God I am still alive.
In 2000 I got married, and I now have four children. I have not forgotten what happened to me and often, especially when I’m alone, I remember that dark day. I told most of my friends what happened. The only ones I haven’t told are my kids, because I want to spare them the resentment and anger I still feel.
Jamal Sukar, now 48, a father of four, spoke with B’Tselem field researcher Musa Abu Hashhash this year and described his life since the beating:
I still remember the day in 1997 when the Border Police officer beat me. At the hospital, I couldn’t recognize myself. My right leg was in a cast and my face was crushed and swollen. My nose was bandaged and I had bruises and scratches on my shoulder, face, chest, back, all over in my body.
I hereby inform you that the investigation of the complaint in question has been completed and I have decided to close the case on the grounds that unfortunately we were unable, despite our efforts, to locate the suspect.
Letter dated 19 March 1998 to Mahmoud Sukar from Eran Shendar, Director of the Department of Internal Police Investigations