My mother woke me up at around 2:00 a.m. and told me an Israeli military jeep was in our village. I got up and looked out the window and saw soldiers surrounding our house from all directions. Soon afterwards we heard loud banging at our front door.

 

My father opened the door and seven soldiers entered our home. They asked my father to gather all his children in the living room. Then they asked to see our identity cards and when they saw mine they told me to get ready because they wanted to take me for a short while for questioning. They did not give my parents any documents but told my father to go to Etzion if he wanted to check on me.

 

I put on my clothes and quickly said goodbye to my family. Then the soldiers took me outside where they blindfolded and handcuffed me to the front with metal handcuffs which were painful. A soldier also beat me on my back.

 

The soldiers led me towards the municipality building nearby where I was put in the back of a jeep and I sat on a seat. The jeep took me to the nearby military base where I remained until around 7:00 a.m. During this time I was examined by a doctor. At around 7:00 a.m. I was taken to the settlement of Etzion where I was immediately taken for interrogation.

 

There were three people in the interrogation room, one was typing and the other two played good cop, bad cop. One of them turned a tape recorder on and told me I was not allowed to speak in court and that I had to remain silent in front of the military judge. He removed the blindfold and told me to cut it short and confess so that I get sent to Ofer as quickly as possible. He threatened to arrest my father if I did not confess. I did not speak to a lawyer.

 

He showed me some photos taken during the funeral of my uncle who was killed by soldiers and told me there were confessions against me that I was throwing stones. Then he raised his hand as if he was about to slap me. At first I denied the accusation but later I confessed. I confessed to throwing one stone which missed. Then he wanted me to confess against other boys but I refused.

 

The interrogator then phoned my father and allowed me to speak to him. Then the interrogator called a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him too. The lawyer told me to depend on god and not confess. When I told him I had already confessed to throwing a stone he told me it wasn’t a big deal.

 

The interrogation lasted for about four hours. In the end the interrogator showed me a document in Hebrew and asked me to sign it but I refused and asked for a translation. I was given the Arabic translation and I signed it.

 

Then I was taken to a cell in Etzion where I was searched in my underwear. I remained there until around 2:00 a.m. They brought me some food but I did not eat because it was unappetizing. At around 2:00 a.m. I was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, where I was taken to Section 19.

 

Two days later I was taken to Ofer military court but the hearing was adjourned. I had many hearings and my parents attended most of them. At the last hearing I accepted a plea bargain of six months in prison and a fine of NIS 2,000. I was also given a suspended sentence of 1 year valid for five years.

 

I spent my entire sentence in Ofer prison. I did not study in prison because the standard was too low and I did not find the lessons useful.  

 

I was released on 4 January 2018, and I arrived home at around 8:00 p.m. My family and friends came to our house to great me and my mother cooked a nice meal for me. I found it hard to sleep the first two days at home. My parents visited me four tines in prison and I found life inside very boring.