RSS Feeds

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Life under occupation Home page  back Print  Send To friend Friday Night In Budrus, 26/05/06 Tear Gas, The Village Of Budrus , 26/05/06 Shai Efrati May 27 2006 At around 6:30 pm IDF forces entered the village of Budrus. The forces used gas grenades, rubber coated bullets and shock grenades. About six jeeps belonging to the Border Police and Artillery (who are presently serving in the regional brigade,The `Maccabeans` brigade) drove around the village constantly and shot in all directions. Almost every spot in the village was hit by gas and there was no where to escape. The teenage boys of the village responded by throwing stones at the jeeps. We shouted in our native Hebrew, `Get out of the village`, and similar calls. One of the village youths was arrested and then released outside the village. During the attack by IDF forces the Mouazin called for prayer. People went to pray as the jeeps approached them. They did not harm those going for prayer. After a number of unsuccessful conversations with the communications center of the Ramallah regional command, we tried to get a Knesset member from the Hada`sh party, Dov Henin, involved. Eventually a decision was made by the Maccabeans brigade to withdraw the forces from the village. The forces were on their way out of the village and we shouted to them from the roof of one of the houses, `Get out of the village`. In response the house we were in was attacked by two gas grenades. We were in a small room at a house with five small children ranging in age between 2 to 10 years old. The house was full of tear gas and the children cried. We were suffocating. The father of the family decided to take the children out. He and his wife and a friend of the family went out. The soldiers shouted at us, `Get out of the house or we will blow it up.` We descended the stairs of the house and each person that went downstairs was beaten by the commander of the force, a Druze Border Police officer, and pushed against the wall with his back to the soldiers. We were ordered to go down on our knees and then ordered to lower our heads. The soldiers said: `You will be humiliated this evening`; you came to the village to make a Kiddush [Sabbath blessing]? We will say your Kadish` [death prayer]. Little Matan [Israeli teenager activist] was identified as the fellow who got a rubber coated bullet in his eye [during a demonstration against the separation wall]. One soldier apologized a little to him. I was identified as a participant in demonstrations in Bilin [a Palestinian village nearby]. He told our non-Israeli friend that I throw stones during demonstrations in Bilin ( I do not ). They checked our IDs. The non-Israeli fellow was interrogated in English after they understood that shouting at him in Arabic, `Shu Ismak?` doesn`t really work. At some point a rifle was pointed to his head. This rifle was loaded with a cluster of rubber coated bullets that go off at once in all directions. I shouted at him to remove the rifle and then I was beaten some more. They asked us if our mothers know what we are doing. I asked them if their mothers know what they are doing. They answered, `sure!!` I said, `She`s probably not proud.` They asked, `who?` I said, `Your mother`. I got two kicks and they shouted at me that I shouldn`t talk about their mothers. When Matan said that they have an order from the company commander to leave the village they got angry and pushed his head towards the wall of the house at a place where there was barbed wire. During the whole incident none of the soldiers agreed to identify themselves. After half an hour the soldiers mounted their jeeps and drove away. The IDF forces left the village at 21:30. The traumas experienced by the children of the village can be witnessed by looking at their faces and hearing them crying at night. Innocent children whose streets are flooded every few days by scores of soldiers and policemen who turn their village into a war zone. Editor`s Note: Shai Efrati is an Israeli peace activist. He can be contacted via Kibush Magazine. Links to the latest articles in this section Unrest continues in Shu`fat; overnight raids, youth detained Israel slaps six-month travel ban on Palestinian map expert Don`t Say We Didn`t Know # 199