On 1 February 2016, a 17-year-old girl from Halhul was detained at an Israeli military checkpoint in Bethlehem and accused of intending to stab a soldier. She reports being denied her basic legal rights under Israeli military law. She reports being released on NIS 2,000 bail 8 days after her arrest. 

Two months before I was arrested my brother was shot dead by Israeli soldiers during clashes in our village. I have been suffering a lot since his death and I am in a very difficult psychological state of mind because I was very close to my brother.

 

On the day of my arrest I went to a military checkpoint in Bethlehem in order to cross over to Jerusalem. As soon as I arrived at the checkpoint soldiers closed the checkpoint and aggressively grabbed and held me. I didn’t have a knife or anything like that on me.

 

The soldiers immediately handcuffed my hands behind my back and asked me for my name. They asked me some questions about my age and where I had come from and made some phone calls and then realized I was the sister of someone they had killed a couple of months before. Then they asked me whether I had come to the checkpoint to take revenge. I told them this was not so and that I was on my way to the mosque in Jerusalem to pray. They accused me of lying and said how could I possibly enter Jerusalem for prayers without a permit. 

 

About 15 minutes later I was put in the back of a jeep and sat on a seat. The jeep drove for about 30 minutes and then stopped at a place I did not recognize. It may have been a police station in Jerusalem. No one told me where I was. I was immediately taken to an interrogation room.

 

The interrogator wore an Israeli police uniform. Before starting to interrogate me he told me I had the right to silence and the right to consult with a lawyer. He asked me for my father’s number and then called him and told him I was being detained. I did not speak to a lawyer before being questioned. 

 

The interrogator then accused me of wanting to stab a soldier in revenge for the death of my brother. I denied the accusation and told him this as not true. I told him how could I attempt to stab a soldier when I didn’t even have a knife on me. 

 

The interrogation lasted for about 30 minutes. The interrogator printed out my statement in both Arabic and Hebrew and I read it and found it was identical to what I had told him so I signed the statement. Then they took my photograph and my fingerprints and took me to the back of a police car.

 

The car drove for about three hours and then stopped at Hasharon prison, inside Israel. A police woman searched me with my clothes on and then took me to a cell with girls my age.

 

Five days later I was handcuffed and taken in a car to Ofer military court, near Jerusalem. Before the military court hearing and interrogator questioned me again and took my statement. He again questioned me about wanting to stab a soldier. I denied the accusation again and insisted I didn’t do anything wrong. He did not inform me of any rights. 

 

After the interrogation I was then taken to the military court where my parents were waiting. I was allowed to speak to them. There was a lawyer in court and he managed to get me released on bail. My family agreed to pay NIS 2,000.

 

I was taken back to Hasharon prison. My parents paid the bail and I was released from prison on 8 February 2016. I was dropped off at Taqumiya checkpoint where my parents were waiting for me and I went home with them.