>>Roundups of Palestinians Causes Fear
By Laura King
AP Special Correspondent
Sunday, April 7, 2002; 1:27 PM
RAMALLAH, West Bank –– It's become a common sight in West Bank cities: Palestinian men kneeling with hands clasped
behind their heads, or marching handcuffed and blindfolded under Israeli soldiers' watchful eyes, or baring their bellies to show
they have no weapons or explosives.
More than 1,400 Palestinian males, from gawky teens to paunchy middle-aged men, have been rounded up for questioning
during the 10-day Israeli military offensive in the major towns of the West Bank. It's Israel's biggest manhunt in years for
Palestinian fugitives wanted in connection with terror attacks.
Those caught up in the dragnet include teachers, doctors, students, laborers, accountants, policemen and – according to the
Israeli military – more than 360 wanted men. The army spokesman's office said it did not know how many of those detained
had been released, calling the situation "very fluid."
Israel defends the roundups as a legitimate means of hunting down militants responsible for suicide bombings, shooting sprees
and other attacks that have killed more than 100 Israeli civilians in the last month alone. But Palestinians call the mass arrests a
form of collective punishment, meant to intimidate and humiliate them.
"I kept saying to them, 'I'm a social worker. I'm 50 years old. I'm not a gunman, I'm not a terrorist,'" said Saleh Abulaben, who
was held for five days at an Israeli military base after being picked up last week in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. "And
they said to me, 'Shut up.'"
Some of the detainees say they have been beaten, tortured or deprived of food and water. Four Israeli human rights groups –
citing what they say are credible accounts of abuse provided by Israeli soldiers in military camps where detainees are being held
– went to Israel's highest court to seek a guarantee of protection from torture and access to legal counsel for the detainees.
The request was rejected Sunday by the Supreme Court, which said it could not consider the case unless it was made on behalf
of a specific Palestinian complainant. With all the Israeli-held cities of the West Bank under tight military curfew, that was
impossible, the human rights groups said.
"Our field investigators can't travel to these areas, which are closed military zones, and some of those Palestinians we would
want to obtain testimony from are still in detention," said Lior Yavne, a spokesman for Betselem, one of the Israeli groups that
joined in the case. "This is a very regrettable outcome."
Many Palestinians taken into custody surrendered themselves voluntarily when Israelis drove armored vehicles through their
neighborhoods, blaring Arabic-language instructions to come out of their houses with their hands up.
"What else could we do?" said Khalid Hussein, an accountant and a father of four in the West Bank town of Ramallah. "I didn't
want them to break down the door. I opened it and went out, and prayed they would not shoot me dead in front of my
children."
Many of the detainees reported nights spent in cold barracks, or under flimsy canvas shelters, with little food and water. Some
said they were given only yogurt and matzoh, the unleavened crackers eaten by Jews during Passover.
Among those singled out for the roughest treatment, several detainees said, were members of the Palestinian security forces.
Khaled Hejjah, a 36-year-old policeman, said he and six colleagues were arrested in Ramallah on the first day of the incursion,
March 29.
"They beat me and kicked me when they asked me questions," he said. "They said to me, 'If we found out you shot at us, you
injured any of us, you will be dead.' And they kept us handcuffed all the time, so our hands swelled up."
Even though Israel described the detentions as a crucial investigative tactic, some Palestinians reported only the most cursory
questioning. "All they asked me was my name," said Abulaben, the Bethlehem social worker. "And for this, I was held for five
days."
Some detainees said they felt the soldiers set out to humiliate them, even if they did not hurt them physically.
Mahmoud Najar, a 42-year-old physician, said soldiers grabbed him when he and an ambulance crew tried to treat the
wounded at the scene of a battle in the center of Ramallah last week between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops.
"They made me strip to my underwear and stand in the street like that," he said. "They said, 'Now we'll do something you won't
forget,' and then they made me lie down in the dirt. In my culture, in my mind, this is extremely shameful. I don't know how they
would feel if someone did the same to them."
Hussein, the Ramallah accountant who surrendered to the troops who came through his neighborhood, said he did not know
how he would respond if the soldiers came again to collect him. He was held overnight and then released, cold and hungry but
otherwise physically fine. His wife cried when she saw him.
"I pray it won't happen again, because I don't think I could give myself over to them another time, and I don't know what would
happen then," he said. "I knew it would be crazy to resist, but I think next time I might become a little crazy." <<
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