I was asleep at 1:00 a.m. when I heard loud banging at our front door. I woke up and realised it was Israeli soldiers. My brother opened the door and eight soldiers entered our home. Some were masked. They asked for our identity cards and asked for me. Then they told me to get dressed because they were going to arrest me. They didn’t tell me the reason for my arrest and didn’t tell me where they were going to take me. One of the soldiers had a piece of paper with a list of names on it, including my name. They didn’t have any other documents.

 

The soldiers dragged me out of the house and didn’t let me say good bye to my family. At the front door they tied my hands to the back with one plastic tie which was very painful. My hands later turned blue. They also blindfolded me. They put me in a jeep which drove to Etzion settlement. They made me sit on the metal floor. When some young men from the village threw stones at the jeep as it drove away the soldiers beat me. They hit me on my head and slapped me on the face. Ten minutes later the jeep arrived at Etzion police station.

 

On arrival at Etzion I was put me in a shipping container where I sat on a seat. I was very tired but a soldier put something in my ear each time I fell asleep. He wanted to keep me awake. He also slapped me to wake me up. At around 7:00 a.m. I was taken to an interrogation room.

 

The interrogator introduced himself as 'Sudqi’. He spoke very good Arabic. He removed the blindfold and untied my hands and shouted at the soldiers when he saw my hands had turned blue. He didn’t tell me about my right to silence and didn’t ask me if I wanted to speak to a lawyer. As far as I know the interrogation was not recorded.

 

The interrogator brought me some juice and asked me why I set some bushes on fire near a settlement with my friends. I denied the accusation. He told me that my friends testified against me but I didn’t believe him. I challenged him to confront me with the boys whom he claimed had testified against me. He brought in one of my friends into the room and asked him in front of me whether I set the bushes on fire. My friend said no. Then he accused me of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails on Route 60. I denied the accusation and told him I had never seen a Molotov cocktail in my life. The interrogation lasted for about two hours. I did not confess to anything.

 

Then he took me to see a policeman who told me that two of my friends had testified against me. He had a tape recorder in front of him. He also showed me some photos. I confessed to throwing stones. He showed me a document written in Hebrew and I signed it. Then he asked me for my parents’ telephone number and asked them to appoint me a lawyer. The second interrogation lasted for about 30 minutes.

 

After the second interrogation I was taken for a security check where I was asked to take off all my clothes, including my underwear. After the security check I was taken to a cell in Etzion where they brought me some food.

 

In the evening I was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, where I spent a night in a prison cell by myself. In the morning I was taken to the main prison.

 

Three days later I was taken to Ofer military court where I saw a lawyer for the first time. My parents did not attend the hearing because they were not informed. The hearing was adjourned. A week later I had another court hearing which my mother attended. The judge wanted to release me on bail in return for 5,000 shekels but my family couldn’t afford to pay this amount of money. The hearing was adjourned again.

 

In total I attended about eight court hearings and on the last one my lawyer agreed to a plea bargain of six months in prison and a fine of NIS 1,500. I spent the time in Ofer prison where I was allowed to study Arabic and Hebrew. My mother visited me in prison once because she was denied a permit for security reasons. I was released from prison on 11 December 2013.