USPCN celebrates, with all Palestinians throughout the diaspora and in the homeland, this morning’s release of beloved youth resistance icon Ahed Tamimi, and her mother Nariman, from Israel’s occupation jails. We send our warmest greetings to the Tamimi family, some of whom we met on our recent delegation to Palestine, and salute all of our political prisoners and their families for their sacrifices and steadfastness.

Israeli occupation forces arrested and detained Ahed over 18 months ago for “suspected assault of an IDF soldier,” during a night raid of her home. Nariman was arrested later after trying to visit Ahed to be with her during the Israeli interrogation. Moments before the confrontation that prompted the arrest, soldiers had both fired tear gas at Ahed’s home and shot her cousin Mohammad in the face with a rubber bullet. The Tamimis’ village of Nabi Saleh is under constant Israeli assault, and is one of the centers of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank. The entire family has organized popular protests there for years.

Ahed Tamimi is a strong symbol of Palestinian anti-colonial resistance for unapologetically defending her land, people, and dignity. Despite harsh repression against her entire family, she never compromised on the right to resist. And no matter how much the racist Israeli occupier state attempts to criminalize Palestinian resistance, its continued jailing and killing of Palestinians, especially outspoken youth like Ahed, has only galvanized international support for the liberation of Palestine.

According to the Defense of Children International-Palestine Section (DCIP), 70% of Palestinians Ahed’s age (12-17 years old) are arrested for throwing stones, and are then subjected to various forms of abuse, coercion into signing false confessions, and denial of basic prisoner rights. The occupation jail system indiscriminately applies military court and prison practices to approximately 5,900 Palestinian political prisoners overall, 5% of whom are children like Ahed. Nevertheless, those imprisoned are tireless fighters, organizers, movement builders, and youth who inspire those on the outside, as well as Palestinians everywhere, to continue resisting and demanding freedom and dignity.

This is a critical moment in Palestine, marked by the repression against the #GreatReturnMarch (in which 150 Palestinians have been massacred by Israel, and over 14,000 injured) and the new military attacks on Gaza, the continued political assault on occupied Jerusalem, and the escalation of violence by illegal settlers (with the support and protection of Israel’s military) against Palestinians across the West Bank.

Today’s release of Ahed and Nariman comes in the wake of this increased Israeli terrorism against our people, and so as we welcome them home with pride and happiness, we also call upon Palestinians and supporters here in the U.S. to continue to educate and organize, and to demand that our elected officials condemn Israel’s crimes.

And contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives, and call on them to demand freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli and Palestinian Authority jails!

Until Liberation & Return,

USPCN July 29, 2018

#Palestine #USPCN #AhedTamimi #MiddleEast

Detroit, MI -The Palestinian Community Network-Detroit (USPCN-Detroit) partnered with Black4Palestine and Jewish Voice Peace, Feb. 18, to support Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi and her family on the Global Day of Action to Free the Tamimis. Standing at the intersection of the William Dickerson Detention Facility and Oakland International Academy (a school) the Hamtramck gathering symbolized the inseparability of incarceration and militarization with childhood in Occupied Palestine and across poor oppressed nationality communities in the U.S.

“Israel’s targeted attacks on Palestinian villages and violations of children’s human rights are a testament to its fragility,” said Julia Kassem, organizer with USPCN-Detroit and Black4Palestine. “The U.S., despite paying lip service to democracy and human rights, is unprecedented in its support for this regime. We must stop supporting Israel’s abuse of children.”

On Dec. 19, 2017, the family home of then-16-year-old Ahed was raided by Israeli military forces. She was promptly arrested and taken to prison in the dead of night.

As of November 2017, over 313 Palestinian children were detained in Israeli prisons. Children in occupied Palestine routinely undergo administrative detention (arrest without any charge for as long as three months, which can be renewed indefinitely), torture, and abuse in custody. Many are detained without trial and without reasonable cause.

Protesters affirmed that all prisoners in occupied Palestine are political prisoners, and called for the immediate release of Ahed Tamimi, her mother Nariman Tamimi, her cousin Muhammad Bilal Tamimi, and Muhammad’s brother and Ahed’s cousin Osama Tamimi, all of whom remain in custody. The Tamimis, arrested and detained without trial, risk facing torture, including sleep deprivation, abuse, and harsh interrogation – all known and routine practices in Israeli prisons.

As Israel feels its grip on the mounting Palestinian resistance slipping, it is waging collective punishment on the Tamimi family and their occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. Protesters expressed solidarity with the Tamimi family and all Palestinian political prisoners and called loudly for an end to Israel’s practices of child imprisonment and torture. In addition, speakers at the protest made the connection between Palestinian political prisoners and U.S. political prisoners, especially those from the Black liberation movement, as well as calling for support for all victims of police brutality and violence.

#DetroitMI #Palestine #USPCN #AhedTamimi #MiddleEast

New York, NY – About 40 activists gathered outside the Israeli Consulate on the afternoon of Feb. 18, as a part of the national day of action in solidarity with the Palestinian girl, Ahed Tamimi.

On Dec. 19, 2017, when Ahed Tamimi was 16 years old, she was arrested by Israeli occupation troops in the middle of the night. The charges against her was that she had slapped an IDF soldier while attempting to defend herself, her family and her country. Along with Ahed, her mother, Nariman Tamimi, was arrested later that day when she went to ask about her daughter. On Jan. 11, Mohammad Tamimi (Ahed’s cousin) was arrested from his home. On Jan. 22, her brother, Osama Tamimi, was also arrested. With each arrest it becomes more clear that Israeli forces are targeting the militant and brave Tamimi family, who are known for leading protests in their hometown, Nabi Saleh.

Currently, all the Tamimis who have been arrested are still incarcerated. Ahed Tamimi is facing trial as she is one of the hundreds of Palestinian children detained and imprisoned in Israeli prisons.

The New York activists strove to ensure that passersby and attendees understood the importance of supporting Ahed Tamimi. While the pro-Palestine activists were chanting, they were faced with pro-Zionist forces – a smattering of members from the Jewish Defense League (JDL).

The JDL members were aggressive and confrontational, attempting to distract the pro-Palestine forces as they continued chanting and rallying. At one point, they began pointing out members of the crowd who had previously identified themselves as Jewish, calling them “Hitler” and saying, “I’m glad Hitler killed your family.”

Despite the JDL, the spirits and resolve to stand in solidarity with Ahed Tamimi and her family remained strong.

The protest was called for by the Samiound Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and attended by different organizations from the NY4Palestine coalition, such as NYC Students for Justice in Palestine.

Michela Martinazzi, from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression NY, was the chant leader and MC of the event and closed out the evening with a mic check, “I’m so happy to see all of you this evening. It’s important that we keep fighting for, celebrating, and emulating Ahed Tamimi’s example. We will not stop protesting until she is free. I will see you next time!”

#NewYorkNY #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #WomensMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #AhedTamimi #NY4Palestine #CSFRNY #MiddleEast

Fort Lauderdale, FL- On Feb. 3, 30 members of the South Florida community gathered outside of the Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale to protest the illegal and unjust imprisonment of 16-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi. The protest, which was called, “Free Ahed and ALL Child Prisoners,” focused not only on young Ms. Tamimi but also the 300-plus other child prisoners being held in Israeli occupation jails.

At the protest, activists held signs that read, “Free all children from occupation,” and “Stand up for Ahed and all of Palestine.” As they congregated along the sidewalk along the busy intersection at Broward Boulevard and SE 3rd street, the group shouted chants such as, “Jail Bibi, free Tamimi!” and “IDF, what do you say? How many kids you kill today?”

After about an hour of chanting and sign-waving, the group gathered to hear speeches from various organizations. Donna Nevel, a lead organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace, was one of those who addressed the crowd.

“We stand firmly with the Palestinian people and join them in their calls for justice, to live in their homes and on their land without constant violence and abuse at the hands of the Israeli government,” Nevel said. “We stand with Ahed Tamimi and her family and the people of her village, Nabi Saleh, who are courageously resisting injustice!”

Thousands of Palestinians remain in Israeli occupation prisons under phony charges or without having been formally charged with any crimes. In these prisons, they are often subjected to harsh conditions, threats against their families, and torture. It is in these same prisons that the Israeli Defense Forces lock up young Palestinian children for throwing rocks at armored tanks, attending protests, or simply being related to politically active people.

Young Palestinians standing up against the Israeli government and its soldiers are forming a new threat to the Israeli establishment. They are deciding to fight back against the U.S. insistence that Palestinians accept a fate doled out to them by imperialist U.S. and apartheid Israel. Ahed Tamimi is a symbol of the new resistance, born and raised under occupation, violence and war; refusing to accept anything but a totally free Palestine.

As the chants died down in Fort Lauderdale, the protesters reaffirmed their commitment to do their part as activists in the U.S, to combat U.S foreign policy that does harm to children and all others in Palestine and in countries throughout the world.

The protest was organized by a coalition of various groups including POWIR, Al-Awda South Florida, Jewish Voice for Peace South Florida, National Lawyers Guild Miami and Friends of Sabeel South Florida.

#FortLauderdaleFL #Palestine #POWIR #AhedTamimi #MiddleEast

New York, NY — Approximately 100 people gathered in Penn Station during rush hour, Jan. 30, to demand justice for Ahed Tamimi. The action was called by the NY4Palestine coalition.

The rally was part of a national day of action, called to not only celebrate Tamimi’s 17th birthday, but to stand in solidarity with her on the first day on trial. Tamimi was arrested in December for slapping an Israel Defense Forces soldier who had just shot her cousin with a rubber bullet. Tamimi’s case has become emblematic of the Palestinian liberation movement because it shows a courage of a young girl standing up to fully armed soldiers.

People throughout the world have been standing in solidarity with Tamimi and her family.

In Penn Station, protesters gathered to hear speeches and chant for Tamimi’s case. A prominent chant throughout the night was, “Free, free Palestine! Free Ahed, now!”

Jessica Schwartz, from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, spoke about how Israeli prisons hold hundreds of prisoners, including children, without due process.

The rally ended with the crowd singing Happy Birthday to Ahed.

#NewYorkNY #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #AhedTamimi #MiddleEast

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the International League of People’s Struggle.

We, members of the Commission 3 of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, vehemently condemn the illegal arrest, torture and continuing detention of Ahed Tamimi and Nariman Tamimi, as we call for their immediate release and the release of all Palestinian political prisoners.

Since December 19, 2017, 16-year old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi has been detained in Israel on trumped up charges, after a video taken by her mother, Nariman, went viral, showing how Ahed expressed resistance to soldiers entering their house. Ahed is facing twelve charges, while her mother was charged and detained for posting the video. Ahed has been denied bail as an Israeli military court judge said that she is dangerous and the weight of her offenses “does not allow an alternative to custody.” She and her mother are facing lengthy prison time, possibly up to 14 years. According to their legal counsel, the two have endured extensive and aggressive sessions of interrogations and that the interrogators threatened her family’s safety.

Ahed, Nariman and the Tamimi family have been targeted by the Israeli occupation forces for their anti-colonial resistance in the village of 600 Palestinians in Nabi Saleh, a site of long-term organizing and struggle against the confiscation of their land by the illegal Zionist settlement of Halamish. Clearly, the arrests of Ahed and Nariman are attempts of the Zionist Israeli government to quell Palestinian organizing and resistance.

Ahed is among the 360 children jailed in Israeli prisons. Many other Palestinian children are detained in Israeli prisons, experiencing torture, solitary confinement, denial of access to their families or lawyers and other human rights violations. On January 16, 13-year old Razan Abu Sal, a Palestinian youth refugee, was sentenced by an Israeli military court to four months in prison and a fine of $800. Razan, like many of the imprisoned Palestinian children, was accused of throwing stones at soldiers.

These children prisoners are among the 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons. With the official support from the United States government of the status of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, these violations have worsened. US Pres. Donald Trump’s latest decision has emboldened the Zionist Israeli occupation forces under the Netanyahu regime to intensify their military operations and crimes against the Palestinian people.

We call for the immediate release of Ahed and Nariman Tamimi and all Palestinian political prisoners. We call on all member organizations of the ILPS, people’s organizations and human rights activists to continue their support the Palestinian people in their just struggle against the Zionist occupation of Palestine.

#Palestine #InternationalLeagueOfPeoplesStruggle #AhedTamimi #NarimanTamimi #MiddleEast

Chicago, IL – On Jan. 20, over 200,000 people marched through downtown Chicago on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration as part of nationwide Women’s Marches.

The Arab contingent at the Chicago Women’s March, led by young women from the U.S. Palestinian Community Network brought signs about Ahed Tamimi, a young Palestinian girl currently in Israeli occupation jails for daring to defend her land and rights.

Young Arab women led the chants, “Ahed Tamimi was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight,” and “When Palestinian women are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!”

#ChicagoIL #Palestine #WomensMarch #AhedTamimi #USPalestinianCommunityNetwork

POWIR [People's Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism] unequivocally stands in solidarity with 16 year old Palestinian youth activist Ahhed Tamimi and all other Palestinian child prisoners illegally detained in Israeli prisons.

Ahed has been targeted by the Israeli state for her family’s long standing anti-colonial activism that opposes the Israeli occupation and the continued annexation of their village lands by Israeli settlements. On January 1, Ahed was indicted with 12 charges for activism, including assault of an IDF soldier and incitement based on social media posts. This punishment has also been collectively extended to her mother Nariman and her cousin Muhammad Tamimi who was shot in the face with rubber bullets at an Anti-Trump action.

Since the year 2000, over 8,000 Palestinian children have been detained in Israeli jails. These children are often not allowed legal counseling or even allowed contact with their parents. Israel, using its “emergency rules,” operates under 1,500 military laws that can be arbitrarily changed. This often denies Palestinians the right for legal representation or trial, leading to indefinite detainment. Mass arrest is commonly used as a tool of collective punishment which is illegal under international law. Israel is the only country to prosecute children in military courts.

We stand against this practice and the larger colonization of Palestinian lands that has been ongoing for decades. We support all those, young and old, who resist Israeli occupation. We denounce the charges against Ahed and the criminalization of young freedom fighters, while violent while IDF soldiers are given free range to abuse Palestinians with no consequences.

In Solidarity,

People's Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism

“My daughter is just 16 years old. In another world, in your world, her life would look completely different. In our world, Ahed is a representative of a new generation of our people, of young freedom fighters. This generation has to wage its struggle on two fronts. On the one hand, they have the duty, of course, to keep on challenging and fighting the Israeli colonialism into which they were born, until the day it collapses. On the other hand, they have to boldly face the political stagnation and degeneration that has spread among us. They have to become the living artery that will revive our revolution and bring it back from the death entailed in a growing culture of passivity that has arisen from decades of political inactivity.” Bassem Tamimi, Ahed Tamimi's father.

#FtLauderdaleFl #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #Florida #POWIR #AhedTamimi #PeoplesOppositionToWarAndImperialism #MiddleEast

New York, NY – About 200 people rallied in New York City, Jan. 5, in Grand Central Station, to protest the arrest of Ahed Tamimi, a 16-year-old Palestinian girl seized last month by Israeli police and charged with ‘crimes’ for defending her home against Israeli soldiers, after they shot her cousin in the head.

Tamimi and her family have been active in resisting Israeli occupation. She gained visibility in 2015 after a video went viral of her protecting her brother against an Israeli officer trying to arrest her then 11-year-old brother. If convicted, Tamimi will face years in prison. Palestinians are convicted over 99% of the time by Israeli courts, often for crimes they did not commit.

Protesters chanted in the middle of Grand Central, waving Palestinian flags and holding signs demanding justice for Tamimi.

Speakers defended Tamimi’s actions, stating that Palestinian resistance is justified against the brutal, genocidal Israeli apartheid state.

Michela Martinazzi of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization supported Tamimi and her resistance by referring to Malcolm X’s famous quote, stating, “As the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, we believe that all oppressed people have the right to overthrow their oppressors by any means necessary.”

The protest was organized by a large coalition of organizations, including Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, NYC Students for Justice in Palestine, CODEPINK NYC and many others.

#NewYorkNY #Palestine #AhedTamimi #MiddleEast