I was on an unlicensed motorbike which I had recently bought. I was with a friend of mine riding along a bypass road at around 6:00 p.m. when all of a sudden we crashed into an Israeli military jeep which had set up a flying checkpoint. The jeep did not have its lights on or have any reflectors. I simply didn’t see the jeep on the road because it was dark at the time.

 

I was thrown to the ground from the impact hurting my foot. The soldiers then started to slap and kick me. I managed to cover my head with my hands. There were lots of soldiers and a number of jeeps.

 

I was taken to the back of a jeep together with my friend who was bleeding heavily. They put my bleeding friend on the metal floor and I noticed he had lost consciousness. I was shackled and handcuffed and the jeep drove for about one-and-a-half hours to Al Jalama checkpoint.

 

At Al Jalama they made me sit outside on the ground for about an hour and some soldiers gathered around me and verbally abused me. It was a very cold evening and I did not have warm clothes on.

 

Later I was taken to a shipping container where they made me sit on the floor. There was a guard with me and he made me turn my face to the wall. About an hour later I was taken in a car to Afula hospital where they took an X-Ray of my foot while I was still shackled and handcuffed.

 

Then I was taken back to Al Jalama checkpoint where they made me wait outside in the cold. I asked to be taken inside because I was too cold but they refused. I wasn’t given any food or drink and I was too scared to ask them for anything, not even to use the toilet.

 

At around 3:00 a.m. an Israeli policeman asked me if I wanted to see a lawyer but he did not inform me of any other rights. He asked for my parents’ number and he called them and told them where I was.  Then I was taken somewhere else where I was interrogated. I did not speak to a lawyer.

 

The interrogator wanted to know what had happened to me and asked me about the motorbike and whether it was stolen. The interrogator did not speak Arabic but there was soldier who translated for me. Then he asked me to sign some documents in Hebrew and I signed them without knowing what they said. Then they took my photograph and fingerprints.

 

After the interrogation I was blindfolded and taken to a vehicle which took me to Megiddo prison, inside Israel. On arrival at Megiddo I was strip-searched. The following day I was taken to the military court but the hearing was adjourned. After court I was interrogated again. The interrogator asked me more questions about the motorbike and showed me a picture of the crash and wanted me to identify the motorbike. I was not feeling well at the time and my foot hurt.

 

I had nine more military court hearings. The last hearing was on 3 February 2017. I was accused of causing a traffic accident in which a soldier fractured his shoulder and another fractured his knee. The court blamed my parents for allowing me to drive without a license. In the end I was sentenced to one month in prison and a fined NIS 5,000.

 

I was released on 3 February 2017, just after midnight and I went home with my parents. I spent my sentence at Megiddo prison. In prison I did not study, I had no interest. I dropped out of school and I want to become a plumber.