Free Ahed Tamimi, Palestinian Freedom Fighter

December 22nd, 2017

Awake Goy

By Mahmoud El-Yousseph

Israeli Occupation Forces arrested 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi , a prominent Palestinian activist, in the middle of the night after reportedly beating up her parents and a sibling.

Ahed Tamimi is from the village of Nabi Sahih (pop. 600), north west of the city of Ramallah. She was taken from her home in Nabi Salih in the Occupied Palestinian Territories during a 4:00 AM raid after a video emerged of her slapping an Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) officer went viral. Israel was outraged and considered the video an insult to its military and harmful to its occupation. Later on when Ahed’s mother, Narihan Tamimi, went to a local occupation police station to inquire about her child, she was put under arrest too.

Here is the short video that went viral:

VIDEO : 0.36 seconds

Ahed Tamimi is an icon for many Palestinians. She has been protesting the Israeli occupation and the slow annexation of her village since she was seven years old. Ahed lost two of her uncles, an aunt who were shot dead by the IOF, and now her 14-year old cousin who was severely injured by a rubber bullet fired into his face by an Israeli soldier. Nevertheless, members of Israel’s far-right and the Israeli media accused her and her family of deliberately using social media to discredit Israel and portray it in the worst possible light.

What does Israel expect from the Palestinians when the IOF raid their villages at midnight, kill or injure their children, and confiscate their land?

Under US law, the IOF soldiers ought to be considered criminal trespassers, for it is lawful to shoot dangerously armed intruders into your house, if only in self-defense. It is outrageous for Israel to label this courageous young Palestinian freedom fighter a “provocateur” engaged in terrorism when they are breaking into the houses of Palestinians on a daily basis and beating up Palestinians and even killing them.

The truth is, Ahed Tamimi is a fearless Palestinian activist and a symbol of the popular Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Israeli War Minister Avidor Lieberman went ballistic when he saw the video of Ahed slap one of the IOF soldiers on the face. He then issued an order to silence the Tamimi family once and for all. What does Lieberman expect? You can’t toss a snake into a cradle and then act surprised if the baby get bitten.

AHED TAMI, YOUNG PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST,
CONFRONTING AN ISRAELI OCCUPATION SOLDIER

This is the same Lieberman who said Palestinian citizens of Israel who do not swear allegiance to Israel should have their heads “chopped off by an axe.” He even suggested in 2003, when he was serving as transportation minister, that it might be a good idea for Israel “to drown any released Palestinian prisoners in the Dead Sea.”

Why does ISIS come to mind?

After Ahed Tamimi’s father told the world on his Facebook page what happened to his wife and daughter, the IDF soldiers came bursting into to his home and stole all phones, computers, cameras, and his laptop Later on when Ahed’s mother, Narihan Tamim, went to a local occupation police station to ask for news about her child, she was immediately placed under arrest.

News Flash: As I am writing this, the newswires service reported that Nour Naji Tamimi, 21, a cousin of Ahed, was arrested by the IOF too.

A few days ago, Al-Jazeera also reported that 14-year-old Mohammad Tamimi, a cousin of Ahed, has been placed in a medically-induced coma after Israeli Occupation soldiers shot him in the face. This was during a protest against Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as “the eternal capital of Israel”.

Mohammad underwent a six-hour operation involving the services of seven Palestinian surgeons at a Ramallah hospital.

Human rights groups have accused Israel of abusing detained Palestinian children. As of January 2017, Israel is holding 339 Palestinian children and 400 Palestinian women at 13 concentration camps inside Israel.

It looks like Israel has declared all-out war on the Tamimi family. Ahed is a child, and like thousands of Palestinian children, she could well be subjected to serious abuse behind bars. She needs to be freed as soon as possible.

It is a well documented fact that Palestinian children like Ahed Tamimi are beaten, abused and tortured during their arrest by the Israeli military.

For Ahed’s sake, peace loving people in the United States need to urge their Representative in Congress to sign onto legislation H.R. 4391 that Congresswoman Betty McCollum(D-MN) just introduced to end the abuse and detention of Palestinian children.

Readers living in the US can have their voices heard, by challenging the illegal detention and inhumane treatment of Ahed, Narihan, and Nour Tamimi, by expressing their concerns to the embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. to the Israeli Embassy’s press office email address: [email protected]

Mahmoud El-Yousseph
Retired USAF Veteran
Feedback: [email protected]

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