Israeli soldiers raided our home at around 11:00 a.m. It was holiday and I was still in bed. I woke up to the sound of soldiers in our house. I got up and found about 10 soldiers already inside. They searched our house for about 30 minutes but did not find anything. They told my mother they wanted to take me for a short while for questioning and "would bring me back soon". They did not give us any documents. 

 

The soldiers took me outside and put me in a car where I sat on a seat. Inside the car a soldier handcuffed my hands to the front with metal handcuffs. The handcuffs were tight and painful. I was not blindfolded. Then they drove to Al Mascobiyeh police station, in West Jerusalem, where I was left in a small underground cell. The cell measured about 2 x 2 meters without any windows. I was left there by myself for a day. During this time, I was taken for interrogation.

 

Before questioning me, the interrogator called a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him. The lawyer told me not to worry and told me I had the right to remain silent. The conversation lasted for about two minutes and the interrogator was listening. 

 

The interrogator wore civilian clothes. I don’t think he mentioned anything about the right to silence. He accused me of throwing stones at a settler during a protest in our village. He gave me a specific date which was three days before I was arrested. When I denied the accusation, he aggressively pushed the chair I was sitting on and threatened to beat me and told me to turn my face to the wall. Then he pushed the chair again.

 

He questioned me on and off for about three hours. He would tell me to "think about it" and would leave the room and come back to see if I was ready to confess. He told me that if I confessed he would send me home immediately. He also told me all my friends had confessed against me. I did not confess. 

 

At the end he showed me a document written in Hebrew and, without allowing me to read it, told me to sign it and I did. After the interrogation I was taken back to the cell. At around midnight, I was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, where I was strip searched before being taken to section 13. Three days later I was taken for another interrogation.

 

This time I was not allowed to speak to a lawyer and I was not informed of my right to silence. I was questioned by two interrogators about the same accusation. One of the interrogators pretended to be the good guy and was nice to me. The other interrogator was more aggressive. He shouted at me and thumped the table urging me to confess. I did not confess and insisted on my innocence. I was questioned for about an hour. After the interrogation I was taken back to Ofer. I spent a couple of months at Ofer and then I was transferred to Damoun prison, inside Israel.

 

The following day I was taken to the military court. My parents were not informed and they did not attend the hearing. My detention was extended. I had about 20 hearings. At the last one, which was on the day when I was released, I was released on bail. I was put under house arrest and my parents had to pay NIS 3,500 shekels bail in addition to a bond of NIS 20,000.

 

I was released at Al Jalama checkpoint on 26 January 2023, and I took a taxi home. I arrived home late at night.