Dipu Ahad is a Labour councillor in Newcastle. He is married with two children and his wife is expecting twins.

He is also a victim of brutal treatment at the hand of the Israeli military.

Councillor Ahad, who is 34, came to Britain from Bangladesh when he was just three months old.

He is passionately opposed to racism and is a campaigner for equality. His commitment came when he was 13 when he learned of a racially motivated murder in Newcastle. 

He has been an active campaigner ever since.

He has visited Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, and has travelled in eastern Europe gathering information about racism against Roma and Traveller people.

“One of the issues I became passionate about is Palestine,” he told the Morning Star.

This month he took part in a fact-finding mission to Israel and Palestine to see for himself the effects of Israeli-imposed apartheid against the Palestinian people. He got an unpleasant first-hand taste of what it is like to be a victim.

“The mission was organised by Labour Friends of Palestine. I met people on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides.

“We went to the West Bank. We met Israeli councillors, United Nations representatives, the British consulate, and we went to Hebron and Bethlehem.

“The Palestinians are suffering. It is totally different from what people say — the checkpoints, the wall, the systematic apartheid.”

He was not able to visit Gaza, the small enclave where 1.5 million refugees are still recovering from a seven-day Israeli military onslaught which left more than 2,000 people dead, including hundreds of children.

“Gaza is a concentration camp,” he said.

He was an observer at a peaceful demonstration near the apartheid wall Israel is erecting to seal Palestinians into a confined area.

“I went with others as an international observer,” he said. “We were on top of a hill watching. The tear gas was so strong and the wind was blowing it to us. It was affecting us so we got away from the tear gas. I moved away from the group and ended up near the wall but felt safe because there were international journalists there.

“There were five or six of us. The next thing I knew the Israelis were firing stun grenades. There were no stones being thrown. There were activists chanting but no stones thrown. Then there was more tear gas.

 “The next thing I knew the gates in the wall started to open. Soldiers slowly pushed them open and everyone started running. I ran with them. We saw tanks and military vehicles coming out of the gate. I ran for it.

“Unfortunately I twisted my ankle badly. I got up and started hopping, trying to run. But then the Israelis were out in their vehicles and started shooting. There were rubber bullets whizzing past me.

“I turned round and put my hands up. I was an international observer but six or seven soldiers aggressively surrounded me and grabbed me. They handcuffed my hands behind my back and put me into a military vehicle.”

For the next nine hours he was to experience Israeli racism — he was treated differently to Israeli protesters who had been arrested supporting the demonstration.

When as an international observer he protested about his arrest he was told to shut up and was blindfolded.

His ankle had swollen up badly.

“They were kicking it,” he said. “After half an hour I asked for water. They got a glass of water and held it near my lips then withdrew it, teasing me. They were laughing and joking. I asked again for water and one of them hit me on the shoulder with his gun. I was in distress because of my ankle.”

He asked the soldiers to take a council business card from his pocket to prove who he was. “They got the card and started laughing and joking, taking selfies with me.”

He was taken to a police station. Some Israeli civilians tried to help him. His blindfold was removed. But his ankle was still swelling and the soldiers simply laughed at his distress. A woman soldier helped him to walk but the others shouted at her, telling her to stop.

He was kept at the police station for more than four hours while his guards watched football.

Then they produced a document which they told him he had to sign.

“The document said they had not harmed me in any way and they hit me with a gun,” he said. “Then they came with another form for me to sign which said they had offered me medical treatment which I had refused. I would not sign it.”

Two Israeli prisoners helped him. One gave him water from a bottle and was shouted at by soldiers. Another took a cold bottle of Coke from a fridge and tied it to his swollen ankle.

He was transferred to another police station, then to another building where he was put in a cell.

“They eventually told me to sign the document saying they had not harmed me in any way — all that nonsense. I said ‘yes yes yes’.”

Another member of the observer delegation finally turned up bring Dipu’s passport with him. He was released after more than nine hours in custody.

He was contacted by the British ambassador’s office who said action should be taken against the Israelis over his arrest and treatment. His Member of Parliament, Chi Onwurah, has taken up his case. The Foreign Office has also been in touch.

He is convinced that his treatment by the Israeli soldiers was pure racism.

“It was a peaceful, non-violent demonstration,” he said. “Not a single pebble was thrown. I was scared for my life, especially when I was blindfolded. When you are blindfolded you do not know if you are going to be shot. I was blindfolded for one-and-a-half hours.

“But I got just a snippet of what Palestinians go through on a daily basis. I was treated like scum, and the Palestinians face that regularly.

“At the end of the day it was racism. Israel is a racist state. But I am a British citizen and I had my passport — that was my get out of jail card. The Palestinians do not have that. They face that every day.”

His experience has not deterred him from continuing his campaigning work against Israel.

“It has made me even more determined,” he said. “In some ways I am fortunate that I have seen for myself how they treat human beings like they are subhuman. It has made me more determined to fight for the Palestinian cause.”