Israeli Soldiers Hold American Citizens at Gunpoint
22 February 2002
Israeli Soldiers Hold American Citizens at Gunpoint
AMERICAN CONSULATE FAILS TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INFORMATION TO SET-UPON AMERICANS
Two American citizens were detained on their way home at the Qalandia military checkpoint by IDF Civil Administration soldiers after filming forced disrobing of Palestinians passing through the checkpoint. After being commanded at gunpoint to turn over their tape for confiscation, Adam Shapiro of New York and Huwaida Arraf of Michigan contacted the American Consulate in Jerusalem to ask for help but were refused by the consulate. After two hours and the help of many private friends, the commander of the IDF checkpoint was forced to let Mr. Shapiro and Ms. Arraf go, along with their tape.
The two Americans assert that Shapiro was instructed by the Israeli commander to hand over his tape after filming the Israeli searches of Palestinians at the checkpoint. After refusing, IDF soldiers tried to pull the tape away from him. Mr. Shapiro managed to pass the video camera to his fiancée, Ms. Arraf, who in turn started walking away from the checkpoint. Soldiers surrounded her and pushed her to the ground. She used her cell phone to get in touch with the American consulate to ask for assistance, but when she got through to the office the marine guard on duty refused to help her and informed her that “there was nothing he could do because they were closed.”
Ms. Arraf then called her personal and media friends in the area and they, along with a lawyer friend, informed the Israeli commander that Ms. Arraf and Mr. Shapiro were in an area considered to be under Jerusalem jurisdiction that was not a declared military zone. As civilians in the Jerusalem district, they were technically under the jurisdiction of the police, not the army.
Mr. Shapiro and Ms. Arraf were “surprised that the American Consulate either did not know this or was not interested in doing anything about the situation.”
Partners for Peace has contacted both the State Department and the office of Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). The State Department is non-responsive and Hillary Clinton’s DC office stated it would not be able to contact the Senator, now in Israel, about Mr. Shapiro’s case.
The two Americans are volunteers with International Checkpoint Watch. They regularly monitor Israeli checkpoints and document abuse or other kinds of ill treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli military.
