Interview with Ahed Tamimi, Palestinian Teen Activist - Video

Journalist Abby Martin interviewed Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi in late 2016, when Ahed was 15.

Ahed was 16 last December, when she was arrested for slapping a heavily armed soldier only an hour after her cousin was shot in the head, allegedly by that same soldier or his companions. The soldiers had entered her family's property, and according to her father, had just shot tear gas canisters into their home.

A couple of days later, Ahed was swept away by Israeli police in a night raid, and is now in an Israeli prison, where she recently turned 17, awaiting a trial. When her mother arrived to accompany her minor child during questioning, a right accorded to her by international law, she was arrested and remains detained, also. According to Avaaz, the conviction rate of Palestinian child prisoners in Israeli courts is 99%.

While Ahed waits, an Israeli journalist has publicly called for her to be raped in prison. He has received no public repercussions from his peers for his vile message; the sickening silence bespeaks wordless support. Elie Wiesel famously said, "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

According to the Geneva Convention, people in occupied territories have rights. This includes many rights especially for children, and also includes the right of the occupied to defend themselves, especially when terms of the agreement are broken, which seems to be the situation in nearly every case in which Ahed Tamimi has been involved and accused.

Ahed has been accused by Israelis of being an actor because the inner poise she exudes seems "too adult," they accuse her thoughtful words of being "rehearsed." But what does one expect from a youngster who is a product of a second-generation occupation? Neither Ahed nor her parents have known a moment of freedom from occupation. Loved ones and family are r outinely injured, imprisoned, maimed and killed.

When one's childhood is stolen, naturally one grows up faster.

And while it may seem obvious that this is true for the oppressed, it is also true of the oppressor. Teaching one's children to maim, destroy, and kill others, is just as much a theft of childhood.

When the childhoods of successive generations are stolen, how will future generations be able to identify and embrace peace or joy?

And yet, Ahed has managed to retain a good deal of poise and grace under these circumstances, as can be seen in her interview with Abby Martin: