Ahed Tamimi: Symbol of Heroic Palestinian Resistance

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Defense for Children International-Palestine said Israeli violence against Palestinian children increased markedly following Trump's Jerusalem declaration, DCIP's Abu Eqtaish saying:

"Excessive force and misuse of crowd control weapons has once again proved to be the norm for Israeli forces when quashing protests," including live ammunition used against children protesting nonviolently, adding:

"Israeli forces seemingly disregard their own open-fire regulations and international law, and enjoy near complete impunity for their unlawful conduct." 

"This lack of justice and accountability results in a high toll paid by Palestinian minors subjected to serious injury or even death."

Rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters fired at close range can cause serious injuries or death. Hundreds of Palestinian children were injured, some seriously or killed - over a third from live ammunition.

Scores of children were arrested and imprisoned, isolated from families and legal counsel, including 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi for challenging an Israeli soldier on her family's land, lightly slapping him, embarrassing him, angered because her 14-year-old cousin Muhammad Tamimi was near-lethally shot in the head, remaining in a medically-induced coma.

Since lawlessly arrested days earlier pre-dawn at home, she's been brutalized to confess to criminal behavior despite no charges against her, isolated without access to legal counsel.

According to her father, Bassem, she was first held at a West Bank police station, then moved to what he called West Jerusalem's infamous Moscobiyeh detention center, a flagrant Fourth Geneva violation for transferring a protected person to an occupying power's territory.

The film Ghost Hunting explained torture and other forms of abuse are standard practices at Moscobiyeh, including threatened rape and other sexual abuse.

Ahed was then taken to Hasharon prison in northern Israel, then again to Ramlah prison near Jaffa.

On December 24, she appeared in court, again on Christmas day. She looked tired and ill-treated from constant transfers, one of various Israeli practices to break down detainees.

Dozens of human rights organizations joined global calls to free Ahed and other child prisoners, lawlessly held, guilty of no crimes.

Ahed, her mother Nariman, and reportedly her father Bassem and cousin Noor were arrested.

The Tamimi family has been on the front lines of land defense in Nabi Saleh village for years, Ahed a courageous activist since age-10.

She witnessed her family members attacked, injured and killed by soldiers and extremist settlers. Her home was threatened with demolition.

Ziofascist Israeli education minister Naftali Bennett called for her and other Palestinian teen resisters to "spend the rest of their days in jail" - for the crime of defending their land against ruthless state terror.

A Twitterstorm #FreeAhedTamimi erupted. She attained global prominence. The New York Times, Washington Post, European and Israeli media reported on her arrest and detention - providing distorted coverage of what happened, ignoring Israeli viciousness, extreme pro-Israeli bias in virtually all their coverage of Palestinian issues.

Here's part of what the NYT reported, despicably portraying Ahed as a criminal, an oppressive Israeli soldier as the victim, saying:

"A teenage girl, a kaffiyeh over her denim jacket, screaming in Arabic, repeatedly punches, slaps and kicks a heavily armed Israeli army officer, who faces her impassively, absorbing some blows, evading others, but never hitting back."

This is the type rubbish the Times calls journalism, blaming Palestinians for occupation harshness, not Israeli ruthlessness the way journalism is supposed to be.

Adding grievous insult to appalling injury, the Times added "the scene of the young woman being hauled away may have given the Palestinians the clear-cut propaganda coup they had been denied by the original confrontation."

The Times made its article title insulting, headlining "Acts of Resistance and Restraint Defy Easy Definition in the West Bank."

Not a word in the article about occupation harshness, the brutality of every-day life in Occupied Palestine, the vicious persecution of defenseless Palestinians, women and children treated as repressively as men.

Nothing about Israeli torture and other ill-treatment, its flagrant violations of international and its own Basic Laws, silence about land theft and ethnic cleansing.

All major Western media provide the same distorted coverage. Heroic Ahed and others like her are portrayed as criminals - whitewashing Israeli high crimes substituting for truth-telling.

Ahed's father explained "(w)e have no choice but to resist. But because we resist, we pay the price."

In an earlier video message, Ahed said "(i)f there was no occupation, I would be a soccer player…I can't think far into the future because the occupation prevents it."

"Right now, injustice is happening all across the world...We should extend our struggles to one another in order to end all of the world's injustices."

This from a 16-year-old girl. She'll be 17 in January, mature for her age, a symbol of heroic resistance against a brutal occupier.

Major media suppress the horrors Palestinians endure daily, brutalized by occupation harshness - pain and suffering whitewashed from their reports.

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