I was arrested with my cousin while herding sheep near our village at around 12:00 noon. A Toyota car appeared all of a sudden. There were Israeli soldiers in the vehicle. My cousin was scared when he saw the soldiers and ran away and I was left alone with the sheep.

 

The soldiers got out of the vehicle and started to slap and kick me. They accused me of being too close to the settlement of Ma’on. I told them I wasn’t at all close to the settlement and I was herding my sheep in the area. The soldiers told me they were not going to let me go until my cousin came back. One of the soldiers pulled out a knife and put it to my neck. He told me to phone my cousin and tell him to come back. At this moment a settler car went by and the settlers were laughing and yelling at the soldiers telling them to cut my neck off. I was terrified. The soldiers then made me sit on the ground.

 

About 15 minutes later my brother showed up and tried to convince the soldiers to release me. Instead, the soldiers arrested my brother after they searched him, tied his hands and made him sit on the ground. About 10 minutes later the soldiers released my brother and sent him home.

 

Then my cousin came back and the soldiers kicked and slapped him as soon as he arrived. A soldier also beat me with the back of his gun on my neck. Then they left me on the ground for about three hours. A military jeep then arrived and the soldiers tied my hands to the front with one plastic ties. The tie was very painful. The commander said I had come too close to the settlement.

 

I was then put in the back of a jeep with my cousin where we sat on the floor. The jeep drove for about an hour to the settlement of Kiryat Arba. My cousin and I were put in a shipping container where I sat on the floor for about two hours. An interrogator then walked in and started to question me. He did not inform me of any rights. He accused me of herding in an area banned for Palestinians. I told the interrogator I always took my sheep to that area.

 

The interrogator did not write down my statement or ask me to sign anything. He told me he was going to release me this time but that he was going to put me in prison for a long time if he ever saw me in the area again.

 

About 30 minutes later my cousin and I were put in a jeep which drove for about an hour and then dropped us off near the settlement of Karmel which is about five kilometers from our village. My cousin and I were dropped off but they did not cut off the hand ties. We walked home. It was around 9:00 p.m.