Palestinian pain up close, personal
One family’s trauma seems never-ending under the Israeli occupation, writes Sister Barbara Cameron
When I read last week of the detention of Palestinian girl Ahed Tamimi, 16, dragged from her bed in the middle of the night by Israeli soldiers, for me it wasn’t just another Palestinian teenage protester. I was devastated.
This was the beautiful young woman I’d met as a happy, innocent 10-year-old, in whose house I’d slept, with whose family I’d sat at table, to whose grandmother I had listened as she shared the pain of the terrible things her own children had suffered at the hands of the Israeli military. Her daughter was shot in a military court room, her son detained innumerable times.
I was gutted thinking of this family having to deal with another trauma, fearing what might happen to their daughter in military detention.
Not only that but her brother Mohammed, 15, is in an induced coma as the result of injury caused by being shot in the face by a rubber bullet.
In 2011 as a New Zealand Catholic nun, a Mission Sister, I had volunteered with the International Women’s Peace Service group on the West Bank, a group that supports the Palestinians in any nonviolent resistance to the occupation of their land by Israel, and reports on abuses.
I had the privilege of meeting Ahed’s father, Basem Tamimi, a charismatic village leader whose gentleness and commitment to non-violent, peaceful protest against the occupation was in stark contrast with the picture of protesters I’d formed from the media of Palestinian resistance to occupation.
In that man’s home, with that little girl and their family, we enjoyed the warm, generous hospitality typical of Palestine. Within days of that experience Basem was picked up by the Israeli military police, accused of inciting protesters to throw stones at soldiers. What follows are excerpts from the speech Basem gave in the military court in June 2011.
“In my lifetime I have been nine times imprisoned for an overall of almost three years, though I was never charged or convicted. During my imprisonment, I was paralysed as a result of torture by your investigators . . .
“International law guarantees the right of the occupied people to resist occupation. In practising my right I have called for and organised peaceful, popular demonstrations against the occupation, settler attacks and the theft of more than half the land of my village . . .
“Our demonstrations are in protest of injustice. We work hand in hand with Israeli and international activists who believe like us that had it not been for the occupation, we could all live in peace on this land . . .
“I did not incite anyone to throw stones, but I am not responsible for the security of your soldiers who invade my village and attack my people . . . ”
Now six years later, after West Bank demonstrations following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, this family is again suffering from the cruelty and injustice of the occupation.
Ahed Tamimi, arrested by the Israeli army last Friday, is scheduled for trial on Monday. This is the second delay in her trial date. Her father, Basem, has been summoned for interrogation. Her mother, Nariman, is still being held in detention. This update from Basem:
“They dragged Ahed out of bed, handcuffed her and put her in the back of their military jeep. The next morning, my wife went to the police station to be with our daughter as she was interrogated. But Israel took her into custody as well. The following day, they arrested my 21-year-old niece, Nour.
“All of this started last Friday when soldiers in my village shot 15-year-old Mohammed Tamimi directly in the face with a rubber-coated steel bullet. Following surgery, Mohammad had to be placed in a medically induced coma. Then the soldiers came to our home. Ahed and Nour slapped the soldiers in the face and pushed them back, yelling that they could not enter our home.
“The Israeli military is threatened by our regular protests, by our refusal to live with occupation.”
What some people will focus on reading this or hearing the news will be the slapping of an Israeli soldier by a Palestinian girl. What we don’t usually hear about is the provocation that leads to the reaction. In this case we do.
In the light of all this suffering over 50 years and in an effort to end the violence and the occupation, Palestine leaders some years ago asked the international community to support them in one of the few non-violent ways pressure can be brought to bear on the occupying force, through the BDS movement, the boycott of Israel, as was done in the past to bring an end to apartheid in South Africa.
That is why Lorde’s decision to cancel her tour to Israel is significant and she deserves to be commended for her courage in taking such a principled stand.