I was playing with some friends in the street at around 10:00 a.m. when we suddenly heard the sound of tear gas canisters being fired. I looked around and saw a group of Israeli soldiers chasing some boys who had been throwing stones. I started to run away as I was too close but the soldiers caught up with me and were able to arrest me.

 

Four soldiers pushed me into the back of a military jeep without giving me any reasons. When I resisted the soldiers beat me hard and swore at me calling me "a son of a whore" and forced me into the jeep and made me sit on the metal floor.

 

One of the soldiers told me to keep my head down and then hit me on the head with the back of his gun. The soldiers then arrested some more boys and then the jeep drove for about 15 minutes to a deserted area to the west of the village. The soldiers pointed their guns at us and asked us to take our clothes off. When they searched us they allowed us to put our clothes back on.

 

The jeep then drove to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, where I was strip searched. My hands were then tied to the back with one plastic tie which was painful and I was taken back to the jeep. The jeep drove for about 30 minutes to the Israeli police station at Atarot, East Jerusalem. 

 

I waited outside the interrogation room from around noon until around 12:30 p.m. - around 12 hours. During this time I was allowed to use the toilet once. My father came to the police station in the afternoon and I talked to him but then I was separated from him and was put in a place which resembled a cage. At around 6:00 a.m. the following morning I was taken for interrogation.

 

My father was allowed into the interrogation room. The interrogator removed the tie and immediately accused me of throwing stones at soldiers. I was not informed of any rights. He told me two soldiers had testified against me and said I was arrested near the cemetery. I denied the accusation. At this point my father objected and told the interrogator I had been arrested near the school and that I wasn’t involved in throwing stones. There was an argument between my father and the interrogator who threatened to throw my father out of the interrogation room and banned him from talking again.

 

Then the interrogator asked me for my name and took my photograph and asked me to fingerprint a document he presented me with which I didn’t understand because it was written in Hebrew.

 

Then the interrogator wanted to know why President Abbas's children don’t throw stones at soldiers and told me a stone could kill. I responded and said it is the soldiers’ weapons that kill. Then he repeated the accusation and I continued to deny it. Then he told me four out of the six boys arrested will be released and two would remain in prison.

 

I waited for about an hour and then I was told my detention was extended for four days for further interrogation. When my father inquired about the reason for extending my detention, he was not allowed to speak and was asked to leave the room.

 

Then I was handcuffed and shackled and taken back to Ofer prison where I was searched and taken to Section 13.

 

At around 11:00 a.m. the following day I was taken to Ofer military court but was told the hearing was adjourned until Sunday. At around 6:00 a.m. on Sunday I was taken back to Ofer military court where I remained until around 3:30 p.m. My parents came to court and the hearing was adjourned. I had several more military court hearings, on average one hearing every two days. This was hard for my parents because Ramadan started in June.

 

During one of the hearings my lawyer tried to convince me to confess in a plea bargain where I would spend six months in prison but I refused and rejected the plea bargain. 

 

On 22 June 2016, I had a military court hearing and two soldiers were brought in as witnesses against me. Each of the soldiers gave contradictory testimonies with different details about the place of my arrest. It was clear they were fabricating the accusation. The prosecutor then asked me to show the place of my arrest on a drawing and I did and the hearing was adjourned.

 

The following day the military judge decided I was not guilty and that he wasn’t convinced by the soldiers’ stories and that he didn’t think they were telling the truth. He ordered my release by 5:00 p.m. but the prosecutor objected and an argument between the judge and the military prosecutor erupted where the prosecutor accused the judge of siding with the enemy against his country.

 

The judge rejected this allegation and continued to insist I was innocent and asked the prosecutor again whether he had any more evidence against me. The prosecutor did not respond and the hearing ended with my acquittal.

 

At around 10:00 p.m. on 26 June 2016, I was handed over to my parents at the prison gate and I went home with them.