Israel arrested four of us for protesting an illegal roadblock in the village of Sarra, on the outskirts of the northern West Bank city, Nablus. For full two days and nights I was shackled and handcuffed.

On August 31st, in Sarra, Palestinians holding a non-violent demonstration against the roadblock were able to remove the cement blocks cutting off their road to Nablus. We, activists, were present, as at most demonstrations, to document by video and photo Israeli army violence that did occur.

In the You Tube video, it is clear that israeli soldiers used sound bombs and tear gas against the unarmed crowd.

It was an immense joy to see over two hundred Palestinians cheer at their removal of the massive concrete blocks which have obstructed their road, their lives, for years. Their cheers before and during the removal were nothing compared to those which followed the heaving aside of the last intrusive roadblock, after about 40 minutes of coordinated heaving and pulling. 

So when, on our way to lunch after hours of activity in the heat, we saw the military bulldozer readying to replace the immense blocks Palestinians had just so laboriously pushed aside it was a reflexive response to run to the site to try to prevent the roadblock replacement. Being only 5 activists, with as many roadblocks to cover, we opted to try to individually prevent each block from being moved. 

Israeli soldiers issued their predictable, “This road is now a closed military zone,” referring to the Palestinian road upon which we sat. It is miraculous manifestations of military orders like these which do, in the end, serve the purpose: to bend the law and achieve a specific goal. In this case, the goal was the removal of the activists and the replacement of the roadblocks.

One by one we were carried or dragged away from the roadblocks’ site, relocated roadside between military jeeps, while the bulldozer did its work. Cement blocks were re-installed, and a new layer of blockage dug out from the earth walls surrounding the road, piled on top of the cement to create a two-tiered blockage.

roadblock-plus.jpg roadblock-plus-front.jpg

We were taken to the Ariel colony police station for further detention. From the moment of being arrested until my release two days later, the other female international and I were kept in handcuffs and ankle shackles, only temporarily removed for most, but not all, bathroom visits—on one occasion, we were indeed forced to use the toilet while shackled together at the ankles.

Friday evening, the first evening of my arrest, was spent in handcuffs and shackles in a waiting room in the men’s prison.

Saturday before, during, and following the trial I was shackled at the ankles. I was made to sleep thus Saturday evening.

Friday night, the other female arrested and myself were not provided with a jail cell, nor with beds or blankets. With the television on all night at a very loud volume, showing a movie that bordered on pornography and which the police would not turn off, and with the lights on for most of the night, no place to lie down, and the chill from the air conditioning, it was impossible to sleep. Sensory deprivation. Despite repeated requests, the police officers made no attempt to improve the conditions, instead mocking and taunting us. The tendons at my ankles hurt, chaffed by hard-edged shackles.

The arrested males were given dingy cells and sparse food. The conditions presented to us by the Israeli judge at Saturday’s trial were unacceptable: the judge chose to ban us from the Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem simply because those were cities in which we had mentioned we had friends. As we did not produce passport ID, we were taken back to jail for a second night. This night, despite the judge’s order to at least provide me with a cell, I was made to sleep in a room with a female police officer, still shackled at the ankles.

The next morning, I was awoken and made to sit for several hours still shackled before being taken for the 2nd trial. At this trial, our Israeli-appointed lawyer did not communicate with us and it was only through the aid of a pro-Palestinian Israeli activist that we were told the conditions of our release, which remained the same as the previous day. Feeling our options were limited, our passports present, we signed the papers banning us from the aforementioned areas and were released.

The Sarra roadblock is one of hundreds of barriers that the Israeli authorities have erected to prevent travel between Palestinian communities. According to Btselem, ICAHD, and UN sources, in addition to approximately 70 permanent checkpoints,so-called israel has constructed 217 dirt piles at entrances to villages or to block roads, 86 fences along roadways, 12 trenches that prevent vehicles from crossing, 93 locked gates at entrances to villages, with the keys held by the army. These physical barriers accompany the hundreds of permanent and surprise checkpoints which the Israeli army maintains inside the West Bank, limiting freedom of movement for the occupied Palestinian population.