January 26 – 30: Join the days of action to free Ahed Tamimi and all Palestinian prisoners

On January 31, Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi will mark her 17th birthday behind bars – as the next Israeli military court hearing is convened against her. Ahed is one of 360 Palestinian children in Israeli prison and nearly 6,200 total Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. As her birthday approaches, take action on January 26-30 to stand with Ahed and demand her freedom and that of her fellow imprisoned Palestinians!

Ahed is imprisoned – along with her mother Nariman – in an attempt to suppress Palestinian organizing and resistance to occupation. The Tamimis are leaders in the indigenous anti-colonial land defense and popular resistance in the village of Nabi Saleh, a Palestinian village of 600 people that has been targeted for land theft and even the confiscation of their spring by the illegal Zionist settlement of Halamish.

Ahed and Nariman Tamimi have been imprisoned since December 19 after a video of Ahed slapping an Israeli occupation soldier – who had slapped her while occupying her land and family home while suppressing a village demonstration – went viral on social media. For nearly all of her life, Ahed has been in direct confrontation with occupation forces who have repeatedly invaded her home; arrested and imprisoned her father, brothers, cousins and other relatives; killed her cousin and her uncle; attacked the village with tear gas and other weaponry, including the rubber-coated metal bullet shot into the face of her 15-year-old cousin, Mohammed, shortly before the video was filmed.

There has been a global upsurge of outrage at the ongoing imprisonment of Ahed. Protests, letter-writing campaigns, petitions and actions in cities around the world have demanded her freedom and that of her fellow Palestinian prisoners. Her case has also highlighted the ongoing, systematic imprisonment of Palestinian children; approximately 700 are brought before military courts each year, and Palestinian kids seized by Israeli forces are frequently subject to beatings, abuse, and interrogations without parents or lawyers present in violation of the law.

The resistance of the Palestinian people has never been quelled by arrests or repression, and it must be clear that we, around the world, stand alongside the Palestinian people as they defend their entire land and people. This includes standing with Ahed Tamimi and all detained and jailed Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for liberation for themselves, their people, and their occupied homeland.

Protests are already being organized in the upcoming days in Copenhagen, Montevideo, Marseille, Paris, Nimes, Lyon, Athens, Manchester, Waterford, Berlin, Auckland and Arlington and on January 30 in New Yorkand Washington, DC. Join the global protest with your own action!

TAKE ACTION:

Demand your government officials intercede for the release of Ahed, 350 imprisoned Palestinian children and over 6,000 Palestinian political prisoners. On January 26, 29 and 30, call your country’s officials and urge them to act:Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop: +61 2 6277 7500
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland: +1-613-992-5234
European Union Commissioner Federica Mogherini: +32 (0) 2 29 53516
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully: +64 4 439 8000
United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson: +44 20 7008 1500
United States President Donald Trump: +1-202-456-1111

In the United States, call your member of the House of Representatives to support H.R. 4391, the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act. Tell them specifically about Ahed’s arrest, and urge them to act for her release. Tell them to pressure Israel to free Ahed and other detained Palestinian kids. Call the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative’s office.
Write to Ahed. While Zionist jailers frequently censor Palestinian prisoners’ mail, it can help bolster morale and even send a message to the jailers and censors themselves. Write to Ahed Tamimi, HaSharon Prison, Ben Yehuda P.O. Box 7, 40 330 Israel. If you gather with other supporters to send Ahed letters and birthday cards, you can also take the opportunity to write your government officials, demanding they intercede for her release.
On January 30 or as close as possible, organize or join a protest for Ahed. Demonstrate outside your local Israeli embassy, consulate or mission, at a public square or government building, or against a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign target. You can drop a banner or put up a table to support Ahed and other Palestinian political prisoners. You can also bring signs and flyers about Ahed to local events about Palestine and social justice. Please tell us your plans so we can help promote them, then send us pictures and reports of your actions, by messaging them to us on Facebook or sending us an e-mail.