I was at school and during the morning break, at around 10:00 a.m., we heard screams and shouts coming from the girls’ school nearby. I went with the other boys to see what was going on and we saw Israeli soldiers firing tear gas. Some boys were throwing stones at soldiers to keep them away from the girls’ school.

 

We didn’t realise that soldiers had laid an ambush for us. I saw some soldiers jump from a tree and they surrounded me and I couldn’t run away. One of the soldiers aimed his gun at me and I froze in my place. The soldiers grabbed me and immediately started to beat me hard. One soldier beat me with his gun and tore my trousers. Then they pushed my head against a metal pole on the side of the street. A settler was standing nearby and he kicked me and banged my head against a wall which caused my head to bleed.

 

The soldiers led me towards a nearby military watchtower and made me sit on the ground. They tied my hands to the back with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and one connecting the two. The ties were very tight. They also blindfolded me. I was then forced into the back of a jeep and made me sit on the floor. The soldiers also beat me when they pushed me into the jeep.

 

The jeep drove to Bet El settlement where I was examined by a doctor. While I was being examined a soldier pulled my Kefia off my neck and threw it in the rubbish bin. The blindfold was removed during the examination and was put back on afterwards.

 

After the medical check I was made me sit on the ground for about four hours. During this time I asked many times to use the toilet but only after suffering a lot did they allow me to use it once. I was then taken in a private car to the police station in Binyamin settlement. I waited about five hours while tied and blindfolded before I was taken for interrogation at around 7:30 p.m.

 

As soon as I entered the interrogation room they removed the blindfold and the ties. The interrogator told me I had the right to silence and the right to consult with a lawyer. He then shackled and handcuffed me with metal handcuffs and started to ask me some questions focusing on throwing stones. I did not speak to a lawyer. I told him I did not throw stones. When I denied the accusation the interrogator lost his temper and banged the table aggressively.

 

At around 8:00 p.m. the interrogator called my father and informed him I was detained because I was accused of throwing stones and that I needed a lawyer because I was going to appear in the military court at Ofer the following morning. The interrogator then continued to direct the same accusations and he was very angry and was speaking to me in a loud voice.

 

In the end I decided to confess because I was scared that he might beat me. I told the interrogator I threw three stones only. Then he showed me three sling shots and asked me which one was mine. I denied that any of them was mine. He became angry again and gestured as if he was going to slap me. I then identified one of the slingshots as mine.

 

The interrogator typed up my statement. He then gave me a document in Arabic that said he informed me of my right to consult with a lawyer and I signed it. He also printed out my statement in Hebrew and asked me to sign it and I did without understanding what it said. I was then photographed and fingerprinted. They also took a saliva sample. Then they tied my hands to the front with one plastic tie instead of the handcuffs. I was then taken to a small cell with four other boys where we remained until 7:00 a.m.

 

The next morning at around 7:00 a.m. I was put in a jeep which drove around for about four hours until it finally stopped at Ofer where I waited until around 6:00 p.m. before I was taken to the military court. My parents were in court and the hearing was adjourned. After court I was strip searched and taken to the juvenile section at Ofer prison, near Jerusalem.

 

I had three more military court hearings. Each time I had to wait for hours and the hearing would be adjourned. At the last hearing I was sentenced to two months in prison and fined NIS 5,000 but my parents refused to pay the fine because they could not afford it. The lawyer tried to bring the fine down and to convince my father to pay it arguing that I would be sent home if he did. The military judge was surprised by my father’s insistence not to pay. The judge then told my father to pay NIS 1,000 and I would spend 45 days in prison and if he didn’t pay the amount he would then keep me in prison for two months. My father told the judge to keep me in prison because he wasn’t going to pay any money.

 

In the end the judge sentenced me to two months in prison and an additional six months suspended for three years. My lawyer was able to reduce the validity of the suspended sentence to 1 year. In the end I was released from prison on the 27 December 2015, because the prison was too crowded.

 

On the day when I was released the intelligence officer summoned me to his office and asked me to show him my facebook page. After checking it he warned me not to go back to throwing stones at soldiers. I was released from Ofer at 5:00 p.m. My parents were waiting for me outside prison and I arrived home with them at around 6:00 p.m.