BY MIKE FEGELMAN
GUEST OPINION
Ahed Tamimi is most certainly not a role model, nor is she a hero or a "poster girl for Palestinian resistance", despite Richard Deaton's saying so and she is most certainly not a "Joan of Arc" archetype.
SEE: Poster girl for Palestinian resistance
In sharp contrast, Tamimi, who in a couple months will be regarded as an adult, is a criminal due to her regularly punching, slapping, biting and kicking Israeli soldiers.
Far from being an "activist," Tamimi is a serial propagandist who regularly stages these provocations to prompt a possible Israeli reprisal. Cue the "Pallywood" industry which co-ordinates reporters, photographers and cameramen to cover these scripted confrontations in an attempt to tarnish Israel's reputation. Revealingly though, the video of the incident in question showing Tamimi striking an Israeli soldier with her fist, shows how Israel has the most moral military in the world as the soldier showed incredible restraint and did not strike back, despite the harassment and torrent of abuse.
If a Canadian teenager had assaulted an RCMP officer, naturally, that individual would be detained and possibly incarcerated in accordance with the law of the land. We should not celebrate and commend those who attack our men and women in uniform, whether in Israel, Canada or elsewhere.
It's not a coincidence that Tamimi engaged in this conduct in Israel. She wouldn't dare do so if she were in Syria or Iran where she would likely be executed on the spot. And hence the double standard with Israel, the Middle East's only liberal democracy.
Richard Deaton acts as an apologist for Palestinian incitement and terrorism when praising Tamimi's efforts. The offhanded nature of his remarks implied that "resistance" was legitimate. Of course, "resistance" is a Palestinian euphemism for attacking Israelis, often civilians, in events such as suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and restaurant explosions.
Tamimi herself comes from a family of notorious Palestinian terrorists. Ahed's aunt, Ahlam Tamimi, murdered 15 Israelis, (half were children) as a suicide bomber at the Sbarro pizzeria. Meanwhile, Ahed's mother, Nariman, regularly incites terrorism against Israeli Jews on social media. Nariman spends her time educating Palestinians on the best place on the body to stab Israeli Jews.
Though parents are tasked to safeguard their children and not put them in the path of potential danger and yet, Ahed's Father, Bassem, indoctrinates his daughter to be on the front lines, a would-be "martyr" for the Palestinian cause.
Terror doesn't occur in a vacuum and terrorists are born from nurture, not nature. Fanning the flames and provoking the Palestinian terror war is a sustained campaign of incitement to violence, indoctrination of hate and justification of terror that is being promoted and instilled in all facets of Palestinian society. A culture of violence exists due to state-sanctioned Palestinian glorification of terrorism and incitement against Israel.
Murder is being crowd sourced and so-called "lone wolf" Palestinians who are fed this steady diet of incitement are now slaughtering Israelis in cold blood.
Instead of teaching kids peace, promoting tolerance, mutual respect and co-existence, Palestinian youth who are incited to hate are doing exactly they are taught: murdering innocents Jews. As a result, peace is now only more elusive, the conflict protracted and the peace process is as moribund as ever.
A society and culture that glorifies Palestinian murderers as "martyrs" will never embrace the path to peace and accept Israel's right to exist. For change to occur, from the grassroots up to the highest echelons of power, and from top down, Palestinians must take tangible steps to end the daily incitement that has led to the violence that we are witnessing.
Once the culture of incitement ends in Palestinian society, logic dictates that violence should subside. Palestinians must teach kids peace, not hatred, to procure the long-lasting peace we all seek.
- Mike Fegelman is executive director of HonestReporting Canada, a non-profit organization, which ensures fair and accurate Canadian media coverage of Israel. www.HonestReporting.ca
