NOWHERE TO RUN: GAy PALESTINIAN ASyLUM-SEEKERS

MICHAEL KAGAN & ANAT BEN-DOR 17
of D’s brothers told him that if the police would not kill him, Hamas would. That same day, D fled
from the Occupied Territories.
E was kidnapped from his house in 2004 by two armed men who threatened him with a gun and
forced him to enter a car. E testified that he was forced to lie facedown on the floor. His captors,
except for one, wore ski masks.
Then the one whose face was not covered turned me over and held me by the front
of my shirt. He started asking questions: “With how many men did you sleep? Have
you slept with Israeli men? Are you a collaborator? Why did you go into Jerusalem?”
After every question he pulled my body up and then smashed me to the ground. I
tried to soften the impact with my hands, and soon the palms of my hands were
bleeding.
Then he took out his gun. He told me to say “La Allah e’la Allah” (the traditional
Muslim prayer to be recited before death). I was crying. I was sure I was going to die.
I tried to grab the pistol with my hand and shove it away from my mouth. Suddenly
he fired a shot. I thought my ears had exploded. The bullet passed very close to my
ear. I was holding my ears with both my hands.
E was later released near his house, but the incident could not be suppressed. All his family,
relatives, neighbors and police had been alerted about his disappearance and despite the late
hour were waiting at his house. E had a difficult time explaining what had happened to him. The
next day he took sleeping pills and was rushed to the hospital. He then dropped out of his school
and remained at home. His anxiety was heightened when he received a summons to come to the
police, who wanted to look into the kidnapping.
Inability to find official protection in the Occupied Territories
Since most of the interviewees suffered from the official or semi-official authorities, they did not
dare to turn to the same authorities, since they knew they would not receive protection. E and F,
who suffered blackmail and kidnapping by private individuals or a militia, were the exceptions.
But instead of receiving effective protection, they only endured further abuse and harassment by
the police.
F described his visit to the Muchabarat [security police] in July 2004, after the kidnapping
incident:
When I went to the office of the Muchabarat I was beaten, and they wanted me to tell
them who kidnapped me. I said I didn’t know, and that only two people’s faces had
been unmasked and I did not recognize them. The police hit me and said I was lying.
An officer told them not to beat me in the face, because it would leave marks. At
another office they kept telling me that because I was gay they would cut my hair and
send me to a prison in Nablus. I kept saying I had no idea who the kidnappers were.
I was sure they belonged to one of those organizations and would get back at me.