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Samir Suliman Yasin Baranat, a key member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in, was arrested yesterday (June 4th) evening. He was beaten, threatened and released a few hours later.

Samir's own account of the incident:

"They asked if I was from Bil'in. When I said I was, they told me to get out, took my ID and told me to stand next to a ditch where a bulldozer was digging nearby," Samir said. "I stood there for an hour and was getting tired and wanted to sit. I tried to sit down on a rock and one of soldiers hit me in the back with a club and told me to stand up."

"I know you from demonstrations in Bil'in, And you'll see what were gonna do with you. Are you afraid?" Samir said a soldier told told him. "I said back to him, 'You can kill me. I' m not afraid' The soldier said, 'We're not gonna kill you, but we're gonna do something else with you.' ""

"'Who are your friends?' 'Who throws stones?' 'What is your job in the Palestinian Authority?' I said, 'you know what my job is.' 'Yes, I know' he answered, 'but I want to hear you say it.'

“Samir said. "He slapped me on the face and mouth and started punching me and clubbed me in the stomach. Then all five of them joined in, kicking me with their steel toed boots, especially in the legs."

Eventually, a woman's voice came over the speaker of one of the border policemen's walky-talky ordering them to let Samir go. "The soldier said to me, 'If we see you at a demonstration in Bil’in, we are going to kill you,' "Samir said.”When is the next demonstration? We are
planning something special. A soldier lost his eye in Bil'in, so you better be very very careful".