Israeli occupation attacks continued on the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh on Monday, 25 December, as occupation forces stormed the village and arrested two youth, Izz Tamimi and Moatassem Tamimi, reported Bassem Tamimi on Facebook. This report of the ongoing attack on the Tamimi family and Nabi Saleh came as military court hearings were scheduled for Ahed, Nour and Nariman Tamimi later on Monday. h
Ahed Tamimi, 16, the young activist and indigenous land defender whose arrest by Israeli occupation forces has inspired protests in Palestine and around the world, was brought earlier on Sunday, 24 December before an Israeli military court. As Mondoweiss noted, “In the five days since her arrest, Israeli authorities have attempted to coerce confession from Ahed, a minor, without access to a lawyer or a parent (her mother Nariman was herself arrested when she arrived to accompany her daughter during questioning); moved her from the occupied West Bank across the 1949 armistice line, also known as the “Green Line,” in contravention of international law; and transferred the sleep deprived teenager between at least three different detention centers and prisons.”
Ahed was brought before the Ofer military court for a hearing on her release after spending the night in the Moskobiyeh detention and interrogation center in isolation as she suffered from the winter cold in her cell; her family noted that Ahed appeared to have “not been allowed sunshine, a shower or proper food during her detention.” Her release was denied, and she will be brought back to military court tomorrow along with her mother, Nariman, who was seized when she attempted to see her daughter after her arrest, and her cousin Nour, seized in another night raid one day later.
Ahed was seized by armed occupation forces that invaded her family home after a propaganda campaign against her following a video of her slapping an Israeli occupation soldier on her family’s land shortly following the shooting of her 14-year-old cousin Mohammed by occupation forces; Mohammed remains hospitalized, will require extensive care and rehabilitation, and had been in a coma at the time.
The Tamimi family has been on the front lines of land defense in Nabi Saleh for years; the village of 600 people has been attacked by the illegal settlement of Halamish, and settlers have taken the village’s spring and confiscated its agricultural land. Even the Tamimis’ home has been threatened with demolition. Ahed’s family members have been killed, wounded and imprisoned for defending their right to their land.
Her bravery in resisting Israeli occupation and oppression, in protecting her younger brother from occupation forces and fearlessly confronting a massively armed occupation force has seen her become well-known throughout Palestine and internationally as a symbol of Palestinian courage and resilience. At the same time, she has been targeted by Israeli occupation journalists and political figures for vile and abhorrent threats, including Maariv journalist Ben Caspit‘s thinly veiled call for the rape of Ahed and her female family members as he stated “in the case of the girls, we should exact a price at some other opportunity, in the dark, without witnesses and cameras.”
Extreme-right Zionist education minister Naftali Bennett said that Ahed and other Palestinian teens should “spend the rest of their days in jail,” calling for life sentences for teenage girls for pushing occupation soldiers from their land.
Protests have taken place in Palestine and in cities around the world to defend Jerusalem and Palestine after U.S. President Donald Trump’s infamous declaration of recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and many thousands have taken action online as Ahed’s arrest and that of her mother and cousin have joined the attacks on Jerusalem as further inspiration for a growing Palestinian upsurge.
Iyad Burnat, the father of Abdul-Khalik Burnat, and Bassem Tamimi, Ahed’s father, posted a joint statement on Facebook to the international supporters of Palestine and the child prisoners:
TAKE ACTION!
- Join the Twitterstorm! Every day, a Twitterstorm is being organized with a new hashtag released at the moment the campaign begins to raise awareness and urge action to free Ahed, Nour and Nariman Tamimi. You can join in and follow the campaign at the Free the Tamimi Women facebook page and @YASHebron on Twitter. The twitterstorms are currently scheduled for 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern, 6 PM UK, 7 PM in Europe, 8 PM in Palestine – updates and hashtags are posted regularly on Facebook and Twitter.
- For supporters in the US: Call your member of the House of Representatives to support H.R. 4391, the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act. Tell them specifically about Ahed’s arrest, and urge them to act for her release. Tell them to pressure Israel to free Ahed and other detained Palestinian kids. Call the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative’s office. CODEPINK has an action to highlight this case specifically.
- Call your nearest Israeli embassy and let them know that you know about the detention of Ahed Tamimi in Nabi Saleh and other Palestinian child prisoners. Demand Ahed, her mother Nariman, and the other detained children be immediately released. Contact infomation here: https://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/israel
- Sign the petition. Over 150,000 people have already signed on to demand freedom for Ahed: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/free_ahed/?feiNukb
- Organize a protest for Ahed or join one of the many protests for Jerusalem and distribute this post and other news about Ahed and the Palestinian prisoners. Get others involved in the struggle for Palestinian freedom! Build the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and complicit corporations like HP and G4S.
- Write to Ahed, Nour and Nariman. While Zionist jailers frequently censor Palestinian prisoners’ mail, these letters can help bolster morale and even send a message to the jailers and censors themselves. Write to Ahed Tamimi, Nour Tamimi or Nariman Tamimi (choose one and address your letter to one only) at: HaSharon prison
Ben Yehuda, P.O. Box 7
40 330 Israel
