Palestinian refusing to comply with Israeli officer’s draconian instructions detained for nearly 20 hours

Sa’ed a-Din a-Zaro (57), a father of nine, lives near the Pharmacy Checkpoint in the city center of Hebron. On Monday, 30 May 2022, he arrived at the checkpoint at around 5:30 P.M., carrying sacks of flour intended for his neighbors. A female police officer at the checkpoint refused to let him through and told him he had to cross another checkpoint, located about 800 meters away. A-Zaro refused and three female police officers came out of the checkpoint, attacked him and pinned him forcibly against a fence. One also grabbed him by the neck. Then other soldiers and Border Police officers arrived, one of whom handcuffed a-Zaro and took him inside the checkpoint.

After more than two hours, the officers took a-Zaro for questioning at the police station in the settlement of Beitar Illit, where he was charged with obstructing police work. He was required to pay NIS 1,000 (~290 USD) to be released but refused to do so. The officers took him to the Etzion detention facility, where he was strip-searched and put in a holding cell. He was released without charges the following afternoon.

In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari, Sa’ed a-Din a-Zaro recounted what happened after he arrived at the checkpoint:

I always help my elderly neighbors carry their groceries home, because they have no children to help them. That day, I reached the Pharmacy Checkpoint carrying 12-kg sacks of flour for them. Before that I asked my wife, Harbiyah (54), to meet me on the other side of the checkpoint to help me carry the sacks.

I went through the turnstile and got to the electronic screening stand. There were three female Border Police officers behind the glass window. One of them ordered me to place the sacks on the table, and I did as she said. She told me to show her my ID, but I’d left it at home. I explained that to her and gave her my ID number instead. She checked the number and then ordered me to go outside and cross through Checkpoint 160. I refused, because my house is right on the other side of the Pharmacy Checkpoint and it was sweltering hot. There was no reason to take such a detour. I started filming what was happening on my phone. The officer shouted at me to get out, and I insisted on crossing. I asked politely. I didn’t want any trouble.

Then the three officers came out of the room, attacked me and pushed me against the fence. One held me by the neck, and the others pushed me. Meanwhile, three soldiers arrived, but they just stood there and watched what the officers were doing to me without intervening. Then three Border Police officers also arrived, and one of them tied my hands together in front of me. They detained me inside the checkpoint for more than two hours and then drove me to the police station in Beitar Illit. At the station, they sat me down on a chair in a passageway between containers, and then I was taken in for questioning.

The interrogator accused me of obstructing police work and disobeying orders. I denied the accusation and said the police officers had prevented me from reaching my home and attacked me. The interrogator spoke to me aggressively and even got up a few times and motioned as if he was about to hit me. Every time I tried to defend myself, he yelled in my face. The interpreter told me to admit I’d made a mistake so they’d release me, but I refused. All that lasted about an hour. During the interrogation, the interrogator let me speak with a lawyer, who told me they were demanding NIS 1,000 in bail to release me, but I refused and said I hadn’t done anything and the police officers had attacked me for no reason. The lawyer asked to speak with the interrogator, but he refused to talk to her.

He took my fingerprints, photographed me and ordered an officer to take me out of the room and back to the chair in the passageway. A Border Police officer who was guarding me told me I’d be detained for four days. I replied that I didn’t care. At around 12:30 A.M., I was transferred to the Etzion detention facility and strip-searched. Then they put me in a cell with two other detainees. The next day, at noon, a guard informed me that I was being released. I left half an hour later and my cousin, who works in the area, took me home. I was exhausted, my back ached and I had bruises on my arm.