Yasser 'Alian,age 32, resident of 'Aba al-Gharbiya, Jenin District
I live with my family in the village of 'Aba. I have three children: Suleiman, 8, 'Abd al-Karim, 7 and Samer, 3. The village is divided into two parts: 'Aba al-Gharbiya and 'Aba a-Sharkiya [western and eastern 'Aba accordingly, B'Tselem]. I live in 'Aba al-Gharbiya. There's a bypass road between the two parts of the village. It's intended for the army and the settlers. Palestinians are not allowed to use it. My two older sons, 'Abd al-Karim and Suleiman go to school in 'Aba a-Sharkiya. The school is about a kilometer and a half away from our house, near the spot where the bypass road and the road leading into the village intersect. The kids have to walk to school, because there is no means of transportation. They have to cross the bypass road, which puts them in danger. There are soldiers on that road, and in the intersection near the school all the time. There have been incidents where the soldiers chased the kids, threw teargas canisters at them and yelled at them. These incidents have had serious effects on my kids. They are afraid to walk to school and often ask me to come with them. In many cases, the soldiers won't let the kids cross the road and they can't get to the school. Sine the beginning of this school year, the kids have missed more than twenty school days, because of soldiers preventing them from getting there. Sometimes, when the soldiers don't let the kids cross, they have to travel about thirty kilometers, around Ganim and Kadim [two nearby Jewish settlements, B'Tselem[ in order to get to school or back.
My children leave the house for school at 7:00 A.M. every morning. They usually walk with older school kids. They have to use bypass roads in order to avoid the soldiers who are usually on the main road. About two weeks ago, my kids asked me to walk them to school. Other kids from the village who were on their way to school joined us. There was an APC in the intersection near the school. When we came up to it, one of the soldiers peered out of it and called me. He ordered me to lift up my shirt to check if I had any weapons or explosives. He then demanded my ID card. I walked over to him and gave him my ID. He ordered me to walk away and wait at a distance of about ten meters from the APC. There were two more people that the soldiers had detained there. When the soldier ordered me to stop, my son, 'Abd al-Karim began to cry and tried to walk back home. I tried to cheer him up and told him to carry on to school with his friends. He left crying. The soldiers detained me for about twenty minutes and then ordered me to go back.
About a month and a half ago, an APC was blocking the way of school kids and teachers who tried to cross the road on their way back from school. The soldiers wouldn't let them cross and held them up for about two hours. The Red Cross and the Palestinian District Coordination Office intervened and negotiated with the Israeli army, but the soldiers still wouldn't let them cross the bypass road. They had to take a bus and drive for about 30 kilometers, around Ganim and Kadim. My kids got home in the afternoon.
My son, 'Abd al-Karim talked about this incident many times. I think it had a harsh effected on him. He cried a lot and came up with all kinds of excuses why he shouldn't go to school.
The fact that my kids miss many school days and get home late sometimes makes me worry a lot. When they're late coming back, I go out looking for them. One time, when 'Abd al-Karim didn't come home until 1:00 P.M., I went looking for him. There was an APC at the junction. When I approached the road, the soldiers called me over. They asked why I was near the road, and I told them that my son was late and that he should have been home by 12:30 P.M. One of the soldiers checked my ID and then told me to go ahead. At that moment, the kids came out of the school and one of the soldiers yelled out to me and told me to wait. When the kids got near the APC, the soldier called 'Abd al-Karim. My son was scared and wanted to run away, but when I called out to him and said it was his dad, he came to me. He was crying and looked very scared.
Yasser Qadhem Suleiman 'Alian is 32 years old, he is, married and father of three. Yasser works as a laborer and is a resident of 'Aba al-Gharbiya, Jenin District. The testimony was taken by 'Atef Abu a-Rub in 'Aba on 21 November, 2002