On Friday, April 20, Israeli soldiers invaded the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, home to the Tamimi family. The Israeli forces instigated clashes with Palestinian youth which lasted several hours, during which the soldiers shot scores of tear gas, fired rubber-coated metal bullets and live ammunition that wounded two of the protesters. “What’s happening now is what is happening every week, sometimes everyday, since nearly nine years”, explained Belal Tamimi. “The soldiers try to surround the village, they don’t want anyone to be near the spring area that the settlers occupied nine years ago. Every Friday, the situation is horrible.”

Haaretz reports: “Israel says the migrants have 60 days to accept the offer to leave the country for an unnamed African destination in exchange for $3,500 and a plane ticket. Those who don’t by April 1 will be incarcerated indefinitely.”

When he was 15-years-old, Hamza Abu Hashem was attacked by Israeli military dogs, and left with serious injuries on his legs, arms, and shoulder. In a video of his attack, Israeli soldiers can be heard saying “give it to him, son of a bitch” and “who’s afraid?” as the teenager cried and screamed in pain. Now, four years after the attack that left his mind and body scarred for life, Hamza, along with his family, is suing the Israeli government over the attack, as well as the Dutch company that has been supplying Israel with attack dogs for more than 20 years.

Wasan Abu-Baker pens a reflection on growing up in Palestine as a “child of the stone” dedicated to Ahed Tamimi. She recalls when her father first came home to live with the family after years in prison. Wasan was already seven: “I still remember those days when we came home from school and then going out to the field to pick the olives, then coming back home to finish our homework. After the harvest was completed we would take the olives to our family factory where the olives were pressed to make olive oil. I remember standing next to my dad to have a taste of the freshest olive oil along with my pita bread. He used to say that once you drink olive oil it becomes part of your soul. I will never forget and miss always miss the smell of olives on those days.”

Badee Dwaik writes, “The Hebron-based group Human Rights Defenders and the Palestinian residents of Shuhada Street organized yesterday a demonstration led by kindergarteners who protested Israel’s jailing of 350 Palestinian children.  Children held in Israeli jails are as young as 12 years old. The kindergarteners rallied for three child prisoners in particular, a young girl named Razan Abu Sal, 13 who was sentenced to 13 and a half months and a fine of $870 (3000 NIS), Shadi Farrah, 12 who has already served two years of his three year sentence, and the infamous Ahed Tamimi who was detained on charges of incitement and slapping an Israeli soldiers.”

The Israeli military spying unit 8200 came to public attention in 2014 when reserve soldiers refused to serve as “tools for the deepening of the military regime in the occupied territories.” Now, facing a shortage of soldiers the unit will be seeking to get its recruits from the 10th grade.

A month after she slapped a soldier in occupied Nabi Saleh, 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi faces a final bail hearing today at court. She has been imprisoned since December 19. Professor Asa Kasher, author of the IDF ‘ethics code, opines that Ahed Tamimi is dangerous, because she may slap again.

The Israeli military prosecution against Ahed Tamimi has indicted her on 5 counts. Jonathan Ofir analyses the most essential of them – ‘incitement’ – and how it is based on arguably flawed translation of her mention on Facebook of “martyrdom operations” to mean “suicide bombings,” in an effort to make Tamimi into a terrorist in the eyes of the world.

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.

Hanukkah is a holiday of Jewish liberation from occupation 2150 years ago. But Jews cannot celebrate the Jewish holidays as a matter of the ancient past at a time when Israel continuously presses its ‘Jewish liberation’ upon the besieged Palestinians, who are crushed under the boot of the ‘most moral army’.