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Palestinians Suing the PA Describe Torture They Suffered

A Palestinian man who was accused of helping Israel was taken by his Palestinian Authority jailers to a dentist, who then pulled some of his healthy teeth, the man told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday.

Sami, and a second man, Dani, are two of 51 former prisoners who are suing the PA for damages on account of the torture they suffered, described their ordeals to the paper.

In a July decision, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the men had the right to sue the PA in Israel because the PA was required by the Oslo Accords to fight terror and that the information the men gave to Israeli authorities helped avert potential terror attacks. Because the men were doing what was required of them, the court held that the PA had no right to imprison or torture them.

One of the plaintiffs is suing for 74 million NIS ($21 million) and the cumulative total claimed by the victims is expected to be between 500 million NIS and 700 million NIS ($142 million to $198.9 million).

Most of the plaintiffs will attend the sessions as the court assesses the damages and the PA attempts to discredit their testimony.

Sami, currently in his late 30s described the day that five members of the Palestinian internal security service took him from his home 15 years ago as the end of his normal life, “they took all of my life. I can’t get married. I can’t work [jobs which are not on short-term contracts], it is hard for me to speak to people and I always get depressed.”

“My teeth were hurting. They took me to a doctor. The doctor asked, who is he? They told him – he helped Israel,” Sami said. But the dentist pulled teeth that were not hurting. “This was because they said I had helped Israel,” Sami explained.

Sami said that he then tried to commit suicide by slashing himself with rocks.

A fellow plaintiff, Dani, who is an older man, said that he was seized by Palestinian security services on his way to his job in Israel also during the second intifada.

When his captors brought him to the first place of detention they placed a urine-soaked sack over his head. He was then kept from sunlight for six day, not knowing what time of day it was, was starved, and was forced to relieve himself in the same cell where he had to sleep on the floor.

Dani was also exposed to extreme temperatures until he lost consciousness.

He has permanent scarring on his arm from wounds inflicted upon him. When asked how he was injured, Dani answered, “do I know whether he stabbed me with a fork or a knife?! It happened while my head was covered.”

When the torture became unbearable, Dani told his interrogators, “what do you want from me? You want me to sign that I work with the Shin Bet. Okay, I did. You want me to say that I sold the Temple Mount, that I collaborated with Israel. Whatever you want.”

After his confession, “they hit me in the teeth and kicked me in the testicles.”

Sami and Dani currently live in undisclosed locations in central Israel, Dani, like some of the other victims, was able to find regular work.

Dani admitted that he worked undercover for the Shin Bet, explaining, “I am human. I do not love blood. If someone causes bleeding, I’ll attack him. I want to save lives. You are not God who can decide to punish people.”

Dani added that he loves Israel because Israel is “trustworthy and if someone helps them, they help you in the future.”

[Photo: AP Archive / YouTube]