I was still at work at a plastic factory at around 1:30 a.m. when I heard the sound of clashes outside the factory. A few minutes later five masked Israeli soldiers entered the factory. One of the soldiers asked me for my name and told me I was under arrest. He blindfolded me and tied my hands to the back with one plastic tie which was painful.

 

Thee soldiers dragged me outside and pushed me onto the floor of a military vehicle. I was hurt and in pain. They kept me on the floor of the jeep. They didn’t tell me why they were taking me or where and didn’t show me any documents.

 

The jeep drove for about 30 minutes before it arrived at Etzion settlement. At Etzion I was kept in a shipping container, still blindfolded and handtied, until later that morning. Then they took me for a medical checkup and then to the interrogation room.

 

The interrogator introduced himself as 'Sudqi’. He didn’t tell me about my rights or allow me to speak to a lawyer. He told me it was better for me to tell him everything. He said there were confessions against me that I had started a fire in the bushes near the settlement. I denied the accusation. Then he accused me of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and told me that my friend testified against me. I told him this wasn’t true.

 

Later the interrogator took me to another room where they were interrogating my friend. They tried to set me up to make my friend believe that I testified against him. I immediately told my fried I never testified against him. The interrogator got angry and swore at me and slapped me very hard on my face. The interrogation lasted for about two-and-a-half hours and the interrogator kept telling me to confess. In the end I confessed to throwing stones.

 

After the interrogation was over I was taken to see a policeman who had a tape recorder on his desk. He told me to confess to starting a fire near the settlement but I refused. I told him I confessed to throwing stones, that’s all. Then he told me to confess to throwing Molotov cocktails. Again I refused and told him I didn’t know what he was talking about. Then he showed me a document written in both Hebrew and Arabic which said I confessed to starting a fire. I refused to sign the document because it was wrong. I was then put in a cell where I stayed until the evening. Whilst in the cell a lawyer walked in and asked me if I wanted a lawyer. Then I was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem.

 

On arrival at Ofer I was made to take off all my clothes including my underwear for a security check. I spent the night in a prison cell by myself.

 

Three days later I was taken to the military court. In court I saw my lawyer for the first time. The hearing was adjourned. I attended about eight court hearings and in the end I was sentenced to six months in prison based on my confession, and a fine of NIS 1,500.

 

I spent the first three months at Ofer prison, and then I was transferred to Meggido prison, in Israel, where I served the remaining three months. My parents visited me in prison four-and-a-half months after I was arrested. This is how long it took for a permit to be issued. In prison I was allowed to study Arabic and Hebrew. They reduced my prison time by a couple of weeks and I was released on 11 December 2013.