Israel Waging War on Ahed Tamimi and Family Members
by Stephen Lendman
Ahed has been detained for over two months, military court injustice certain to order her imprisoned, likely for years – for the crime of wanting to live free from oppressive Israeli occupation.
Pre-dawn on Tuesday, Israeli soldiers stormed Nabi Saleh village, arresting 19 Palestinians, including 10 Tamimi family members.
Severely wounded Muhammad Fadel al-Tamimi, aged-15, Ahed’s brother, was among those arrested. Others included the following family members:
Tamim Fadel al-Tamimi, aged-17, Suhaib Samih al-Tamimi, aged-14, Ahmad Sami al-Tamimi, aged-19, Muayyad Hamzeh al-Tamimi, aged-17, Muhammad Mujahed al-Tamimi, aged-15, Amjad Abd al-Hafith al-Tamimi, aged-28, Omar Saleh Tamimi, aged-29, Islam Saleh al-Tamimi, aged-21, and Wiam Iyad al-Tamimi, aged-17.
In December, Israeli soldiers shot Muhammad Fadel al-Tamimi with a rubber-coated steel bullet at point blank range, blowing away part of his skull.
He underwent two operations to remove skull fragments, leaving him disfigured. His severe head wound requires reconstructive surgery, scheduled for March 5.
Shortly after he was shot, 16-year-old Ahed (now 17) was filmed slapping Israeli soldiers on her family’s property after being slapped.
She was indicted on multiple charges for the incident. Soldiers committing high crimes virtually always remain unaccountable. Rare exceptions prove the rule.
After his arrest, Muhammad was detained and interrogated, forced under duress to falsely claim a bike accident caused his severe head injuries.
Bullets lodged in skulls aren’t from bike accidents. Muhammad was intimidated to refute the truth about what happened to him.
The facts remain clear. Medical records explain he was injured by a bullet to his head.
Following his release after interrogation, he accused Israeli soldiers of trying “to put words in my mouth to confess names of people, because they knew I was scared of being kicked and them touching my head.”
Haaretz refuted Israeli General Yoav Mordechai Big Lie about the cause of Muhammad’s head wound.
It saw CAT scan images of bullet fragments removed from his skull. In detention, he was too scared to challenge the false narrative interrogators wanted him to agree to.
He wanted to be released and sent home, not kept in detention, possibly harmed further.
A Tamimi family statement said “what began as a bizarre attempt to prove that we are not even a family has deteriorated into a denial of reality.”
Responding to a request by Haaretz, IDF sources said they can’t confirm the cause of his injury. Medical records explain it clearly.
Since Muhammad’s severe injury and Ahed’s arrest, Israeli soldiers repeatedly terrorized Nabi Saleh and Deir Nitham villages, arresting over a dozen Tamimi family members, lethally shooting 16-year-old MusaabTamimi.
Ahed’s father Bassem said “Muhammad is critically injured because of the occupation, and they put his life in even more danger last night.”
“This just proves they don’t care about any international opinion, human rights or international law.”
“Every international institution that deals with the Palestinians and human rights issues are responsible for the lives of our children and for the suffering of the Tamimi family and Nabi Saleh village.”
“We have become a symbol of nonviolent resistance, and (Israel doesn’t) want the voice of Palestine to be heard from anywhere or anyone. Who knows what they will do next.”
Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians are horrendous, ongoing daily. The world community and Western media pretend not to notice.
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