The New York Times ran a piece on the very different ways that Israelis and Palestinians see the slapping incident involving 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi and an Israeli soldier. It treats an occupying soldier and a 16-year-old girl as equals and does not quote a single member of the Tamimi family, whose land the soldier was on when the incident took place.
There is no stomach which does not turn when seeing video of 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi slapping an Israeli soldier, journalist Ben Caspit writes. And therefore he recommends: “we should exact a price at some other opportunity, in the dark, without witnesses and cameras.” This is an incitement to crime.
It’s the third Friday of Rage since Trump’s Jerusalem declaration, and the day after the UN Assembly draft resolution vote, where 128 countries called for the US to overturn its decision to move the US embassy. Rhiannon F. reports, “There appear to be more Israeli soldiers in force today in Beit El, north of Ramallah, scattered along the hilltops close to the illegal settlement. The air is tense as the soldiers hold back from firing the amount of rubber bullets and tear-gas they are known to be capable of. Palestinian protesters know if it is silent and appears calm on the Israeli soldiers’ end of a clash, a plan is most likely about to erupt.”
While Damascus Gate has been the central point of protest in light of US president Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Palestinians have also been confronting the declaration through other means. The residents of Jabal al-Baba used this year’s Christmas celebration to reaffirm the need to defy Israeli policy of forced displacement and the plans to take over the areas of E-1 northeast of the city.
Israeli forces detained 28 Palestinians overnight Tuesday from occupied territories, including a 15-year-old. That brings the total number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces since the beginning of the protests that followed US President Donald Trump’s’ recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to 490, including 148 minors and 11 women.
Seven years ago it was a viral video of a Palestinian boy weeping as his father was arrested by occupying soldiers. Now it’s viral video of a Palestinian girl slapping Israeli soldiers. The occupation is endlessly horrifying to American liberal Zionists but they never do anything about it concretely. They just have their never-ending crisis. Their ethnocentrism ought to horrify their own children.
Ahmed Moor writes that the main failure of the Palestinian leadership is that they act as though Israel can be maneuvered through negotiations with a heavyweight tipping the scales in their favor, even though history has shown this will not be successful. Nonetheless, he writes, there is a path forward: “By restating the goals of the Palestinian national movement, away from state building and towards human rights and dignity, the PLO, Hamas, and the PA may fundamentally alter their dynamic with Israel. The pursuit of equal rights is the only mechanism for transforming statelessness into strength.”
Following the arrest of 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi it is urgent for Congress to pass Betty McCollum’s proposed bill to prevent the use of US tax dollars for the Israeli military’s detention and mistreatment of Palestinian children. The message of the bill is simple: As Israel’s largest benefactor, the US must stop funding Israel’s human rights abuses against children.
Today, the overwhelming majority of the world’s nations at the UN General Assembly voted 128-9 in favor of a resolution calling on the United States to overturn its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Omar Barghouti, speaking on behalf of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), responded by saying: “This vote is further proof that the far-right Israeli-Trump alliance is more isolated than ever as the overwhelming majority of nations are finally recognizing its fatal attempt to undermine both Palestinian rights and the very rule of international law. Holding Israel accountable for its egregious, decades-old human rights violations is crucial to upholding both.”
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