Ahed Tamimi protest

    

Without explanation, the Twitter account belonging to imprisoned Palestinian teenage girl Ahed Tamimi was deleted. Tamimi was arrested and imprisoned by the Israeli military.

Another account has been created, calling for Twitter to reinstate Tamimi’s original account.

While it is unclear if Twitter itself deleted the account, Manal Tamimi, a relative of Ahed, suggested Twitter did indeed ban the account.

The Palestinian teenager was arrested last week after a video of her slapping Israeli soldiers who were blocking the steps at her family’s house went viral. Israeli forces confiscated computer equipment from the Tamimi residence during the nighttime raid. It is possible that Israel accessed Ahed Tamimi’s account from those computers.

Tamimi’s cousin Nour was also arrested. Her mother Nariman Tamimi was detained as well, when she went to the police station where her daughter was being held.

The Tamimis are prominent anti-occupation activists who reside in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. They lead demonstrations every Friday to protest the confiscation of the village’s well for the nearby settlement of Halamish.

An Israeli soldier shot Ahed Tamimi’s brother Mohammad, 14, in the head during a demonstration on December 22. He has been released from the hospital after undergoing surgery and a medically induced coma.

The Tamimis have long been targeted for their activism. In 2011, an Israeli soldier fired a tear gas canister from closer range at Mustafa Tamimi, killing him. Israel’s Military Advocate General cleared the soldier who fired the canister of any wrongdoing. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said the ruling “conveys the indifference of the military law enforcement system to the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank.”

While it is unknown if Israeli authorities requested that Twitter suspend Tamimi’s account, the social media giant has collaborated with Israel before. In 2016, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked revealed that Twitter was removing content it deemed “harmful.”

RT reached out to Twitter for comment on the suspension of Ahed Tamimi’s account but had not received any response at the time of publication.