Terrorist attack at checkpoint (Archive Photo)
צילום: דובר צה"ל
'He shot me with a rubber bullet’
Mahmad Sa’id Wahadan gets into row with soldiers at Beit Ibah checkpoint; resisting arrest, he’s shot with rubber bullet; Wahadan says he’s proud: “I later beat my son, who had begged them to leave me alone”
How did Mahmad Sa’id Wahadan, 41, become the target of an IDF officer’s rubber bullet? All he did was ask to pass the Beit Ibah checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Nablus, so he could take his five children home.
The six had set out on Tuesday to visit a family member held in an Israeli prison. But when they tried to return home, the family learned that soldiers, acting on intelligence tip, had closed the checkpoint to all traffic.
“You can’t pass, you Palestinians are committing a terrorist attack,” a soldier told Wahadan.
Wahadan said that he objected to being lumped in with those committing a terrorist attack and began to argue with the soldier. This drew the attention of an officer, who, he said, threatened to handcuff him.
“I refused to let him handcuff me, and he then threatened to shoot,” said Wahadan. “I lifted my shirt and pant legs and said that I was not armed so he could not shoot me.”
Facing down rubber bullets
According the 41-year-old, the officer nevertheless threatened to shoot him if he did not agree to be handcuffed for an interrogation. “He fired a rubber bullet at me, which missed. When he saw that I remained unfazed, he went to the jeep and got another rifle and hit me.”
Palestinians at the checkpoint prevented the IDF from arresting Wahadan, who left the checkpoint without passing. A Najah University student who had witnessed the confrontation said that it was Wahadan’s cool demeanor that riled up the officer.
“I will never degrade myself or let Jews humiliate me,” said Wahadan. “I beat one of my boys for begging the soldiers to leave me alone. I told him, ‘My son, never grovel before a Jew.’”
Wahadan said that he plans to lodge a complaint against the officer.
In response to the incident, IDF sources said Wahadan himself was allowed to pass, but his sons were not. The officer had to fire on Wahadan after he went wild at the checkpoint.
