‘After they banished me from the village I moved to Ramallah (top)’
Photo: AP
Ticking bomb
Nadim Injahz has been homeless for eight years. In Ramallah, Tanzim are after him, and he is illegal resident in Israel. He just wants to go home, but his compatriots have not forgiven him for collaborating with Israel. ‘They told me that murdering settlers is the only way I can restore my honor – and the truth is at this point I have nothing to lose’
Nadim Injahz, detained in the protected wing of Ashmoret Prison, hopes he is never released. As far as he is concerned, he is better off in jail, where at least he has a roof over his head. For the past eight years, Injahz, 28, a Palestinian, has been seeking a quiet place to rest where his life is not in danger and he need not worry about getting arrested. Meanwhile, he alternates between the Palestinian Authority, where the Tanzim threaten to kill him, and Israel, where is categorized as an illegal alien.
At the conclusion of every jail sentence, representatives of the Israel Prison Authority drive him to the Tul Karem checkpoint and deposit him on the Palestinian side. Realizing that his life is once again in danger, Injahz inevitably escapes back to Israeli territory, where he is eventually arrested as an illegal alien and sentenced to prison. He serves his time and is released, and the process begins again.
In fact, Injahz is painfully aware that there is a way to break out of this vicious cycle. He can rehabilitate himself in Palestinian society and cancel the looming death threat by killing an Israeli. So far, Injahz has refused to do so, but he admits that time is running out.
Injahz’s unenviable predicament dates back to 1995, when his brother agreed to work for Israel’s General Security Service (GSS). “I lived then together with my mother and brother in Kfar Harbata, near Modiin. In the village, they discovered that my brother was a collaborator, and they started bothering me. For the Arabs, being a collaborator is worse than being a settler. I was mortified. They hit me over the head with a rock; they burnt the house and abused me, until I was banished from the village. I was only 16 at the time.”
But Injahz’s troubles did not end there. “After they banished me from the village,” he recounts, “I moved to Ramallah. The Tanzim saw me and said to me: ‘If you want to stay here, you must work with us. Bring us weapons and money.’ Nasser Abu-Hamad, who was Marwan Barghouti’s lieutenant, got me in touch with two Tanzim guys, and together, we broke into hundreds of houses in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. We found many guns, mostly belonging to soldiers, and we brought everything to Ramallah.”
“In 2000,” Injahz continues, “there was a plan to rob a liquor store on Salma Street in Tel Aviv. I was already fed up with the burglaries; I was being intimidated, and I only did it so I could be in Ramallah. Shortly before the robbery, I went to the Jaffa police on my own and told them about the plan. I said that they are extorting me and that I wanted to turn a new leaf. I didn’t know that doing that would mess up my life. They listened to me at the Jaffa police station and promised that I would receive papers to stay in Israel, in return for turning in the thieves. That’s how I became a police informer. After the police caught the two guys who committed the robbery, they gave me money and promised me an Israeli identification card.”
The Tel Aviv police had no comment at this time.
Injahz believed that his life was finally settled; he was wrong. “Just then, the Tanzim were on to me. The guys that I had locked up threatened me from jail. So I kept a low profile and went back to the police. They assured me that everything would be okay.” However, Injahz’s misfortune had only just begun.
'Police threw me out'
“One day a girl approached me and started up with me. She said to me: ‘Come. I want to know where you live.’ I believed her and went with her. Just as we were getting to the apartment, some Arabs from Jaffa jumped on me, threw me into a car and started beating me up. Finally, they dumped me in the middle of nowhere, until someone took me to Wolfson Hospital, where I stayed for several days.”
An unpleasant surprise awaited Injahz upon his return from the hospital. “Two days after I was released, an intelligence officer from the police called me up. He said: ‘We’ve completed the investigation. I don’t need you anymore.’ I didn’t know what to do. They had promised me an identification card, but they never delivered. The police threw me out. I didn’t have residency papers to stay in Israel, and so I went back to Ramallah.”
“I’m a merciful man.”
Once in Ramallah, Injahz understood that he would have to kill if he wanted to avoid being killed himself. The price was determined ahead of time. Only by shooting an Israeli could Injahz prove his allegiance to the Tanzim.
“The Tanzim caught me and said to me: ‘If you want to live here again, you have to execute an attack against the Israelis, in order to restore your honor.’ I told them that I wasn’t interested. After all, I’m not a murderer. So they said to me: ‘Don’t come back.’ I thought about it. There was even something in the planning stages, but I couldn’t do it. I’m a merciful man; I can’t put on a belt and blow up. I would rather sit in jail all day than kill. The GSS knew about this, and they said to me: ‘We don’t want you, because you have a criminal past.’ So I broke off all contacts with both the Tanzim and the GSS. Since then, I have nowhere to go.”
What do you live on?
“I break into houses and cars. I steal everything. I want to live, to survive. There is no other way. No one wants to hire me. I tried looking for a job, but everyone wanted to see my identification card. I don’t have one. Where am I supposed to get one? So I need to get money somehow. I have no way to live, so I keep stealing. I’m at a point where I have no choice. As far as I’m concerned, it would even be better if I got 20 years. At least I would have a place to sleep.”
You have nowhere else to go?
“The Tanzim will find me wherever I am in the territories. They’ll murder me. Even my mother in Ramallah is married to someone else and doesn’t want to see me, because I worked with the security forces. Two years ago, I tried talking to her. She said: ‘Don’t come, and don’t call.’ My father has been abroad these past 27 years, and I don’t know where he lives. My brother is a GSS collaborator, and I haven’t seen him in over ten years. I don’t even know if he’s dead or alive. I’ve given up; I want a solution for my problems. If they don’t want me in Israel because I’m an Arab, let them send me abroad, to any country in Europe. I’m even willing to convert, to become a Jew. I just want to live quietly. I want to be like any other person, to get married, to be good, and to stop stealing and all that nonsense. But they don’t let me.”
At this point, Injahz can not leave; he has neither money nor a passport. Over the past few years, he has become a regular visitor to jail. “Each time, I get three to four months, am released to the checkpoint, and go back to Tel Aviv. In another two months, I will be released from Ashmoret Prison, and I have nowhere to go. Believe me that if they catch me at Tul Karem, I’m ready to do what they want, as long as I can live quietly. I’ve despaired of this life.”
You are considering committing an attack?
“I don’t know. I want someone to help me. I’m in a difficult situation and don’t know what to do. I have nothing to lose.”
