It was 2:00 a.m. when I woke up to the sound of an Israeli soldier in my bedroom. The soldier took me to the living room where all my family had already been gathered. I asked my father what had happened and he told me the soldiers had invaded our home. There were about 10 soldiers inside our house.

 

The soldiers asked to see my father’s ID card. One of the soldiers called my name as he looked at my father’s ID card. My father pointed at me. The soldiers looked at each other and I realised they had come to arrest me but were surprised to see how young I was. They started to talk among themselves.

 

The soldiers remained in our house for about 30 minutes. I think they were waiting for the commanding officer to show up. When the commander arrived he talked to the soldiers and looked at me and then told my father they were going to arrest me. He told my father they were going to take me to the police station in Ariel settlement because I was accused of throwing stones. He took my father’s telephone number and my birth certificate and asked my father to be at the police station at 8:00 a.m. I was allowed to get dressed and I was then led to a waiting military jeep.

 

When we got to the jeep the soldiers blindfolded me and tied my hands to the front with three plastic ties; one on each wrist and one connecting the two. The ties were not too tight. I was then put in the back of the jeep and sat on a seat. The jeep drove for about 30 minutes before stopping. I don’t know where we were. I was made to stand by the jeep for about five minutes before I was taken to see a doctor. My blindfold was removed and the plastic tie connecting my two hands was cut off. The doctor checked my pulse and asked me if I suffered from any illnesses or allergies. I was then re-blindfolded and tied and taken to another vehicle. There were other detainees in the vehicle.

 

The second vehicle drove for about an hour before it stopped and I was taken to the second floor of a building where I was asked to wait in the corridor. I was still tied and blindfolded. I asked a soldier if I could use the bathroom and he allowed me. Two hours later I was put in an outdoor structure which looked like a cage. My blindfold was removed. I waited there with other detainees. When we called the soldiers to ask to use the bathroom they got angry and shouted at us. But I was allowed use the bathroom. At around 1:00 p.m. they brought us some food but we didn’t eat because it looked inedible.

 

At around 3:00 p.m. the interrogator came for me. He removed the tie and replaced it with metal handcuffs. He also shackled my ankles. At first he fingerprinted and photographed me and asked me to sign a document written in Hebrew which he told me said that I had not been mistreated. I signed the document. I don’t think the interrogation was recorded. The interrogator did not inform me of my right to silence and did not tell me I had the right to consult with a lawyer.

 

The interrogator immediately accused me of throwing stones at soldiers and settlers. I denied the accusation and told him I didn’t throw stones at anyone. The interrogator got very angry when I denied the accusation and asked me to stand up. He told me he was going to keep me standing up for four days. Five minutes later he allowed me to sit down and repeated the accusation. I denied the accusation once again. He told me I was a liar and claimed he had seen me throwing stones with other boys. I asked him to tell me who those other boys were. He told me this was none of my business.

 

Later the interrogator told me he had in his possession stones which were found inside military and settler cars with my fingerprints on them. I told him this couldn’t be true because I never ever threw stones at anyone. The interrogation lasted for about 30 minutes. At the end the interrogator showed me a document written in Hebrew and asked me to sign it. I refused to sign it and explained to the interrogator that I didn’t understand any Hebrew. Instead, he signed it himself. Then he asked me for my father’s telephone number. The interrogator called my father and asked him to appoint me a lawyer. He didn’t allow me to speak to my father.

 

I was then taken back to the outside cage. At around 8:00 p.m. a policeman came to tell me I was going to be released. I was taken in a police car outside the settlement where I waited for a taxi to take me back to the village. I arrived home at around 9:00 p.m.