GUEST BLOG: Lois Griffiths – Bridge of Remembrance Christchurch, Rally

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for coming. 

My name is Lois Griffiths. Martin , my husband, and I are members of  NZ Palestine Solidarity Network. We  have become very concerned about the situation in what is sometimes called the ‘holy land’, ever since we visited Israel and the West Bank for the first time in 2009. We went on a tour, an alternative tour, an educational tour, organised by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.  We learned things and saw things that are never reported in our media.  I must say that  meeting Palestinians, seeing how they maintain a sense of dignity and decency in spite of all they go through, really gets to the heart.  

What we are doing today is important. It is important that we are sending a message to our media elite, to our politicians that the public is alert , concerned , know what is being done to Palestinian children and want it stopped. It is not just us in Christchurch. There are rallies being held in several NZ centres: Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Whangarei. And it’s not just NZ. Rallies are being held in several American cities, in South America , in South Africa, in many parts of Europe.

The story of Ahed Tamimi has touched the consciousness of decent people around the globe. What is the story?

Ahed Tamimi turned 17 two days ago. She spent her birthday alone, in an Israeli prison where she has been since mid-December. Her family, the Tamimi family of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh are particularly hated by the Israeli regime for their refusal to passively submit.

For years, she and other villagers have held  weekly protests against the stealing by Jewish settlers not  only of  farmland but also their  ancient spring, a vital water source.  This  community depends on farming. Protests are always met with violence by heavily armed IDF, Israeli soldiers.

The West Bank has been illegally occupied  according to  international law for 50 years now. An entire generation has grown up surrounded by heavily armed soldiers who invade homes, arrest family members, kill with inpunity.

Ahed’s father has been arrested many times, charged with organising the weekly demonstrations.

Ahed told a Telesur reporter, “All my family here  is in danger. We are at risk of dying any moment”.

Last year, in mid-December, a soldier shot her 14-year old cousin, Mohammed Tamimi  at point blank range in the face.  

Two soldiers then entered the Tamimi property.  Ahed heard what had happened to her cousin . She was distraught! Wouldn’t you be?  Ahed tried to push the soldiers away. They pushed back. She slapped one of the soldiers . The slap was caught on video taken by her mother &  has gone viral.

The Israeli public was incensed! Not that a 14 year old was shot in the face. Oh no, no problem with that! But that a Palestinian dare touch a soldier! She dared humiliate the beloved IDF!

A few days later, Ahed was arrested in the middle of the night, standard IDF practice, and taken away. Her mother tried to find out where Ahed was taken, and she, the mother, was arrested too.

Ahed was denied bail. The judge says she was too dangerous. She will be tried, as Palestinians are,  in a military court. She is facing multiple counts of assault. These military courts are notorious for their high conviction rates, nearly 100 % . The Israelis are determined to set an example to all Palestinians, that any sort of resistance, will be dealt with harshly. A member of the Israeli parliament, Oren Hazen,   told a BBC reporter that ‘the slap was an act of terrorism.’

Ben Caspit, a leading Israeli analyst wrote that  Ahed’s actions made “every Israeli’s blood boil”. He said she should be  subjected to retribution “in the dark, without witnesses and cameras”.  Naftali Bennett, the education minister, called for Ahed to “end her life in jail”.

So the future for Ahed Tamimi, just turned 17, looks bleak.  

But it’s not just Ahed. An Israeli human rights NGO,  B’Tselem revealed in early January  that Israel is holding over 300 Palestinian minors in prison.

Maybe they are  lucky ones. At least they are alive.

Just this week, Israeli occupation forces  shot in the head  and killed 16-year-old Laith Abu Naim during protests by Palestinian youths in another  West Bank village. He is the 4th child or teenager , to be killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2018.

This has to stop. As Palestinian churches have pleaded , we need to say this is the moment, the Kairos..a Church word meaning now, this is the moment , now, to demand a stop. A stop to Israel’s war on children.

 Politicians don’t lead you know, not really. They need to be pressured into doing the right thing. The media needs to be pressured into sharing with us information that is easy to obtain, if the will is there.

Palestinians know they cannot obtain justice, cannot protect their own children even, without outside pressure. That’s why the call has gone out, since 2005,  for BDS, boycott, divest, sanction. We could have a public meeting and talk more about that.

Let’s focus now on the call to demand that our Government stop looking the other way, call in the Israeli ambassador and demand that Israel free Ahed Tamimi, free all child prisoners. Some are as young as 12! Imagine if these children were your children. If Ahed were your daughter. The time is now. The cry is  ringing out in Chicago and Los Angeles, in NY and Washington DC, in  Montevideo and Rio, , in Berlin and Athens, in Dublin and Bristol, in Capetown and Johannesburg, in Perth and Sydney, in Auckland and yes, here in Christchurch.

The cry is FREE AHED TAMIMI   FREE ALL CHILD PRISONERS.

Lois Griffiths is a human rights activist