Today I went to the police station at the Russian Compound in central Jerusalem to provide my testimony of the assault on a fellow Ta’ayush activist by Baruch Marzel last month at Hilltop 26 (18). We are hopeful that Marzel will be held accountable for the assault, however experience shows this is not likely.

Just this week, settler Ze’ev Braude who shot and injured Palestinians in Hebron had his indictment rescinded and was released due to the court’s decision not to disclose “classified information,” citing security concerns. Clearly “security” trumps justice and as such, yet another violent Israeli living in the occupied territories dodges punishment, free to continue endangering lives in the name of state security.

Policeman Yoav met me at the station in plain clothes and asked me to wait while he found a room for us. His dyed silver hair spiked up with gel made him look rather pubescent for a middle-aged police officer. While uploading the old IBM computer in the small room where a Beitar Jerusalem poster was hanging, I asked him how things were in Hebron today, where he is stationed. He said fine and mentioned that he had never seen me before, and then asked if I am “affiliated” with any group.

When I replied “Ta’ayush,” he said, “oh yes, with Ezra” and proceeded to inquire as to who the leader of our group is and who organizes and arranges our activities. I asked how this is relevant to the testimony and he said it is not, that he is just curious. I reserved my right to remain silent, despite the fact that nothing about our activities is covert and I’m certain the police is well aware of what we do.

He typed quite slowly, with both his index fingers, and I found it amusing when he asked me how to spell Ta’ayush, which he thought was a Hebrew acronym, unaware that it is in fact a term in Arabic meaning “life in common.”

I proceeded to present my testimony, telling him about what I saw, about the blatant violence inflicted on us under the gaze of the IDF and police, who did nothing to curtail it, much less take the attackers into custody. He asked some questions of clarification and that was it. While waiting quite a while for the archaic, dusty printer to work, the policeman turned to me and said, “I’m not used to this office. I have much better conditions in Hebron.” It left me wondering to which side of the Green Line the authorities will send the next new batch of computers and printers they receive.

Here is a video clip of part of the assault: