International Checkpoint Watch - Daily Observations

March 5, 2002

Mr. Ronald Schlicher

Consul General

United States Consulate

Jerusalem

Dear Mr. Schlicher,

Sadly I am writing to you again with regard to the lack of willingness of the United States Consulate and its representatives to assist US citizens in danger and/or abused by the Israeli Armed Forces.

On Tuesday March 5, 2002 five Americans – Ms. Sofia Ahmed (Chicago, Illinois), Ms. Huwaida Arraf (Detroit, Michigan), Mr. Brett Davis (Bloomington, Indiana), Ms. Heather Guyton (Olympia, Washington), and Mr. Adam Shapiro (Brooklyn, New York) – were making their way out of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the Occupied West Bank.  Since the Israeli Army has dug up Palestinian roads and placed hundreds of roadblocks on Palestinian streets, the journey out of Nablus included a 3-kilometer walk along a road where Palestinian taxis are physically prevented from using.  Approximately 100 meters into our walk, we came across an Israeli Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) and armed Israeli soldiers.  One soldier demanded the passport of US citizen Brett Davis.  Mr. Davis, taken by surprise, rightfully inquired into why he was being asked for his identification.  The soldier was uncooperative - refused to give a reason and refused to produce identification and/or papers proving his authority.  We were in Area A – an area considered under full control of the Palestinian Authority, and therefore an Israeli soldier demanding identification from Mr. Davis was not only out of the ordinary, but certainly questionable and worrying.  Mr. Davis was taken away from the group and held behind the APC “guarded” by one of the armed Israeli soldiers.  Mr. Davis presented the Israeli soldier with a driver’s license so as to give identification, but not give away sensitive information such as his passport number to an armed person who refused to validate the legitimacy of his demands, neither verbally nor via documentation. 

Very worried about our friend, we began questioning the soldiers as to why they were holding Mr. Davis at gunpoint after having seen his identification.  We received no answer.  One Israeli soldier physically assaulted a female member of our group, Ms. Sofia Ahmed, violently pushing her repeatedly and taking his gun in hand as if to threaten her with it. In the meantime, Mr. Davis explained to the soldiers that he wished to be released or to be arrested – something that only Israeli police can do to a foreigner in such instances.  At no time did the soldiers announce that Mr. Davis was arrested, only that their commander had been contacted and was on his way (the commander never arrived).

Finally, I stepped aside to call the Consulate to explain the situation and to seek assistance.  I was put through to Ms. Victoria Coffineau, head of the American Citizen Services department, and from whom we have sought assistance in other similar situations.  After my last experience with the Israeli soldiers, in which my colleague and I were wrongfully detained, harassed and physically threatened by Israeli soldiers, I wrote you a letter detailing the incident and describing the lack of assistance and provision of incorrect information by Ms. Coffineau.  Upon learning that I was on the phone, Ms. Coffineau said that there was nothing she could do to help, and that since we had better contacts, “we could take care of the situation better.”  This was her response, despite the fact that we were phoning the US Consulate for assistance.  It seems that Ms. Coffineau took offense to my complaint about our previous experience with the services provided by the US Consulate, and was holding this against me and my colleagues in refusing to assist American citizens in need. 

Upon learning of her unwillingness to assist, and with Mr. Davis still being held, the rest of us decided to approach the soldiers again and to demand our friend’s release.  We were refused, and therefore decided to try to leave together with Mr. Davis.  The soldiers responded violently, one grabbing Mr. Davis around the neck and by his arms, while others grabbed, choked, and twisted the arms of the rest of us.  With the rest of us violently pushed aside, the soldiers continued to push Mr. Davis, ultimately picking him up, and carry him into the APC, banging his head in the process and shoving him under one of the benches.  At this point the commander ordered the door of the APC closed and we lost sight of Mr. Davis until his release hours later. 

With this new development, I instructed Ms. Heather Guyton to contact Ms. Coffineau again and to report that Mr. Davis had been kidnapped and was being held captive by the soldiers.  Ms. Guyton specifically asked Ms. Coffineau if she could contact the Israeli Civil Administration authorities to get their intervention, as surely a call from the US Consulate would carry some weight with the DCO in Nablus, but she said she could not as she did not have any contact information for someone in that office.  Ms. Coffineau also explained that she would not seek to discern the condition of Mr. Davis or the circumstances of his captivity, and refused to take any more steps to provide assistance.

At this point, scared and without any assistance from American government representatives, we contacted press to report on the situation.  Aside from the physical abuse we received, the most disturbing aspect of this situation was the complete lack of concern or attention our situation received from the very people we would expect to act on our behalf.  As we later found out, one of the soldiers in the APC put his gun to Mr. Davis’ head and threatened to shoot him right there in the APC.  Meanwhile, we stayed on the scene, with Israeli guns trained on us for four hours as we sought to ascertain Mr. Davis’ condition and fate.

Mr. Schlicher, I hope you will be disturbed by the response of Ms. Coffineau to our plea for assistance.  Additionally, I fear that a pattern is developing, one of insensitivity to the needs of American citizens when confronted with violence by Israeli soldiers.  I wonder – and others have posed this question to me as well – what would be the response of the Consulate if a similar situation had befallen us, but instead of Israeli soldiers we were held by Palestinian gunmen?  Is the use of force and violence on unarmed American citizens by Israel acceptable to the US Consulate and government?

As I did in my previous letter to you, I urgently request a meeting with you to discuss these events and how to improve the relationship between the US Consulate and American citizens in the future.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Huwaida Arraf

Passport # 701758735

cc:        Senator Carl Levin

            Senator Debbie Stabenow

            Senator Charles Schumer

            Senator Hillary Clinton

            Senator Patty Murray

            Senator Maria Cantwell

            Senator Richard Lugar

            Senator Evan Bayh

            Senator Richard Durbin

            Senator Peter Fitzgerald

            Congressman David Bonior

            Congressman Anthony Weiner

            Congressman John Hostettler

            Congressman Brian Baird

            Congressman Bobby Rush

            Dr. James J. Zogby