Testimonies

Islam Hun, 17

Last Thursday [15 January], around 9:30 A.M., I left my house with two of my brothers, Lu'ai, 16, and Muaiad, 15, to go to our grandfather's plot of land. We wanted to gather wood for the house. Mother was busy with housework and said she would join us shortly.

It was nice out and we were in a good mood because we'd finished our mid-term tests, and it was the first day of vacation.

We crossed the road that leads to the Elon Moreh settlement. There were no soldiers around and no cars on the road. Usually, soldiers don't let us go cross this road.

We walked another half a kilometer or so, and got to the plot. We gathered dry branches and then started on our way home. When we got to the road, we saw about ten soldiers. They shouted to us, “Stop! Stop!” One of them was holding a stone. I told them, “We're coming.” We went toward them. Suddenly, soldiers came from behind and cuffed our hands. A soldier hit me a couple of times in the back of my neck, and hit Lu'ai in the head. They spoke Hebrew, so we didn't understand what they were saying. I tried to explain that we had only gone to gather wood, but they told me to shut up. My mother arrived. When she tried to approach, the soldiers shouted at her and aimed their weapons at her.

After ten minutes, the soldiers blindfolded us and hit me in the back, head, and neck. They slapped me, and I heard them laughing. I didn't understand what they were saying, but I realized they were mocking us.

About half an hour after they grabbed us, they put us into a jeep. I recognized the route and realized they were taking us to the Beit Furik checkpoint. At the checkpoint, they sat us down on the ground and left us like that for a few hours. During that time I heard my father's voice.

The cuffs hurt a lot. I told the soldiers they hurt but one of them said, “Shut up!” About an hour after we got to the checkpoint, I asked one of the soldiers if I could go to the bathroom. He didn't let me. I asked again and again, and it wasn't until the fourth time that the soldiers agreed. I heard Muaiad say that the cuffs hurt him a lot as well.

After a few hours passed, soldiers put us in a jeep again. I heard my mother beg them to release us. I said to her, “Don't worry! We didn't do anything.” Then a soldier hit me in the head. I heard Muaiad cry. I managed to peek under the blindfold and see him.

Three soldiers were in the jeep. We sat on the floor. I didn't know where the jeep was going. When we stopped, they removed our blindfolds and cuffs and took us to a doctor, who asked about our health. We answered the questions and then they took us out of the room, and put the blindfolds and cuffs on again.  I thought one of my brothers was next to me, and I asked, “Who's here?” Lu'ai answered. I asked him where Muaiad was, and he said he didn't know.

A few hours later, I heard someone walk by, and I asked, “What time is it?” He replied in Arabic, “10:30 at night.” It was cold. I said to a soldier, “We're cold and the cuffs are too tight.” He said, “I can't help you.”. I asked him where my other brother was, and he said, “He went home.” I calmed down a bit when I heard he had been released.

About half an hour later, they put us in a room and removed the blindfolds and cuffs. On the way to the room, I asked the soldier, “Why are we here?” He said, “I don't know.” I said, “We didn't do anything,” and he answered, “I know.” It was a small room, 3X3 meters, and there were three young men inside. There were beds and two blankets for each of us, but they weren't enough and I was very cold at night.

They left me and Lu'ai there for a few days. We were given three meals a day, but the food was so bad that I didn't eat enough and was hungry all the time. We went out to the yard three times a day, for one hour each time. We could go the bathroom only when we went to the yard.

The day after they detained us [16 January], around noon, I was taken to a room with a policeman. He spoke Arabic. He asked me my name and why I was there. I told him what had happened. He wrote everything down in Hebrew and asked me to sign. I asked him, “Why are we here? How can this be? You grabbed us after we'd been gathering wood.” He said, “Why do you throw stones?” I've never thrown stones,” I replied. Then Lu'ai was brought into the room. Later, he told me that he had told the policeman the same thing I did.

On Monday [19 January], around 4:00 P.M., they cuffed our hands, blindfolded us, and took us. At first, we didn't understand where they were taking us, but in the end we realized we were at the entrance to the camp. A soldier removed the cuffs and blindfolds. We took a taxi home.

Islam 'Abd a-Rahim Hassan Hun, 17, is a student and a resident of Salem in Nablus District. His testimony was given to Salma a-Deba'i at the witness's house on 21 January 2009.