bookwormstory.social

There are days when you head out to report a story, and you think you know where it's going. And then it spins in an entirely different direction. This is the story of one such day.

We say we don't want to leave without him. "Can one of our Israeli friends stay here?" we ask. The soldiers refuse, and a gun is raised. It points straight at us – and we begin to back away. "Move on," we're told.

Soldiers walk Abuhejleh out of sight around a hill, and as we make our way back to where the road was dug up, Rabbi Dana tells us she's worried. … We don't want to leave Abuhejleh, and so the waiting begins. What was promised as a few minutes becomes 30 minutes. Then 45. Then 90. What appears to be the same drone comes back, flying lower, with its camera pointed at us.

Eventually, our IDF contact calls back. He assures us that Abuhejleh is safe, and he strongly advises us to leave the area "for our safety." So, reluctantly, we do. … We sit down with Abuhejleh to make sure he's OK and to ask what happened after he was separated from us. He tells us that after he was led away, blindfolded and handcuffed, he was driven to a military office in a nearby settlement where he was mocked and questioned for hours.

"They say it's our land. It's not your land. So you must forget it," he says. Later, when we would ask the IDF why he had been detained, they would provide no comment.

Now that he's home, he assures us he's unharmed. And as we're about to leave, we ask if he plans to go back to see his land, even after today's incident.

"I will go back. Don't worry," he says. "They will arrest, and I will return back – until I will fix my land. It's our land."