Statement of the DSA National Political Committee, January 5, 2018

Ahed Tamimi is a 16 year-old Palestinian girl living in Occupied Palestine. She is also a political leader, a global symbol of resistance to occupation and oppression. Palestine is under Israeli occupation and last month Ahed was filmed standing up to Israeli soldiers at her family home. Israeli forces had recently shot her 15 year-old cousin, Muhammad Fadel Tamimi, in the face with a rubber bullet at a protest against U.S. President Trump.

When the soldiers raided her home, Ahed resisted. She defended her family, her land, and her people. For that, she now faces 12 charges before an Israeli military tribunal for everything from incitement to rock throwing. According to Haaretz, the Israeli military tribunals “deal with all criminal and security cases involving Palestinians, from their detention through their appeals” with 99.74 percent ending in conviction. Rock throwing alone carries a prison sentence of up to twenty years.

Though she is young, Ahed has long been a leader in the struggle against the oppression of the Palestinian people. In yet another example of the United States government’s alliance with the occupation, Ahed was scheduled to participate in a January 2017 speaking tour No Child Behind Bars: Living Resistance From the US to Palestine, but the U.S. government put a hold on her visa and she was unable to attend.

We unequivocally stand in solidarity with Ahed Tamimi and all those struggling for the liberation of the Palestinian people in Occupied Palestine. We also stand with the 63 Israeli youth who recently wrote a letter saying they won’t serve in the IDF. We recognize our government’s active collaboration with the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people and we are against it, as evidenced by DSA’s 2017 national convention passing a resolution in support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. Ahed must be released from custody immediately, with the charges dropped–so too should the hundreds of other Palestinian children held in military detention.

Should she be released and allowed to travel to the United States, we would be honored to co-sponsor an event at which Ahed and her family of leaders speak. We encourage all members to follow Ahed’s story and continue with our organization’s efforts to support the BDS movement.