Testimony: Najah B.
| Name: | Najah B. |
| Age: | 33 |
| Date: | 4 June 2017 |
| Location: | Al 'Arrub camp, West Bank |
| Event: | Night raid / child arrest |
On 4 June 2017, a 15-year-old minor from Al 'Arrub refugee camp was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 5:00 a.m. The boy’s mother describes the night raid on the family home and the arrest of her son.
I woke up suddenly at around 5:00 a.m. when I heard loud banging at our front door. I woke my children up and we all gathered in the living room. My youngest is 5-years-old, and my oldest is 15 years.
My husband opened the front door and about 10 Israeli soldiers, in full military gear, entered our home. Two of the soldiers were wearing face masks. The soldiers had already broken the glass in the front door before my husband managed to get there.
The soldiers checked my husband’s identity card and asked for our 15-year-old son. Then they separated our son from the rest of the family. I could tell our son was scared and confused.
The commander told us they wanted to arrest our son but did not say why or for how long. He did not give us any documents and within 30 minutes they had left the house with our son. They barely gave him enough time to put on his jacket and to say goodbye. The soldiers did not search the house or cause any damage.
In the meantime the whole neighbourhood woke up and young men took to the streets and started to throw stones at the soldiers. I was very worried when this happened because I did not want our son to be hurt. Sometimes soldiers take it out on the detainees when young men start to throw stones at them.
Some of our neighbours rushed to our house after the soldiers had left. They wanted to check on us and to give us support. I was so shaken and disoriented that I could hardly speak.
Our son was released at around 6:00 p.m. later that day without charge. I was very happy when he came home but I also worried that he might be seen as a collaborator by people in the camp because he was released so quickly.
This is not the first time that our home has been raided. About two weeks ago a group of soldiers came in the middle of the night and I was home alone with the children as my husband was away. Also two years ago a group of soldiers raided our home at night and were accompanied by a service dog. We were terrified.
Israeli soldiers come to our refugee camp almost every day, they don’t leave us alone. They want to scare us into submission and the price we and our children pay is too high, we don’t sleep, we don’t rest, worry is our normal state of mind.
