Israel's 'Eric Garner Moment' Entrenches Its Habit of Victim-blaming

[geek tragedy]

Wanted: Dangerous terrorist.
Suspect name: Ahed Tamimi, aka “Shirley Temper."
Physical appearance: Slight.
Accused of: Assault with intent (biting an Israeli soldier), manipulation of the world media.
Age: 14.
Known accomplices: Mohammad Tamimi, 12 years old, brother, walks around with cast on left hand.
Be advised: Suspects may appear childlike, but they are in fact cunning and experienced. They are petite and unarmed but considered extremely dangerous.
Last seen: Under and on top of an armed IDF soldier, one of them howling in pain.


This weekend’s damning images from the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, in which a masked IDF soldier is seen trying to arrest Mohammad Tamimi (whose left arm had been broken in a separate incident), putting him in a chokehold and being interrupted by a group of women and girls, caused a worldwide media frenzy. In Vox, it was called “Israel’s Eric Garner moment”.

...

Judging from the responses in Israeli media, politics and social networks, the true culprit in Nabi Saleh was not (as the brainwashed world media would have you believe) the soldier using excessive force against a 12 year-old with a broken arm. It was the boy himself (who may or may not have thrown rocks at the soldiers, depending on who you ask) and his slightly-older sister who, as right-wing bloggers were quick to point out, were known “troublemakers.” Meaning: they had attended other demonstrations in the past, and were therefore more enemy combatants than preteens.

....

Ahed Tamimi, who is seen biting the soldier's hand, is not just any other Palestinian teenager, the bloggers discovered. She is quite the “professional provocateur.” Videos and images have surfaced in which Tamimi is seen taunting and confronting Israeli soldiers. In some, she is only 10 years old.

Moreover, Tamimi, they also discovered, comes from activist stock, her parents being two well-known Palestinian activists. That was enough to brand her a "Pallywood star,” a term coined by historian Richard Landes to describe anti-Israel propaganda disguised as news, and accuse her of “ambushing the soldier for publicity.” In blogs and in the media, she was portrayed as violent and dangerous and was given the nickname “Shirley Temper”, as if she and her brother were the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen of Pallyhood Hills.

...

Israelis often have to perform mental gymnastics in order to align their perception of Israel with what the images and testimonies show. With the demonization of two minors, though, this habit has reached a rather comedic point.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/1.674030

I've never before seen a nuclear-armed nation that claims to have been bullied by a 14-year old girl with an iPhone.

I think this author must read DU's I/P forum.

[DetlefK]

1. Don't make me laugh. Of course he was a troublemaker. Seriously.

You are a soldier. With a rifle. Doing your job.

There is this 12yo boy.
He gets in your feet. He punches you. He taunts you. He throws rocks at you.
He is interfering with your work.

Here's my riddle: How would you get rid of this child so you can go back to doing your job? Please remember: You are not allowed to put your rifle down, so you can only use one hand.

You obviously cannot tell the kid to leave you alone.
You obviously cannot tell the parents of this kid to get him out of the way.
You obviously cannot grab this misbehaving, running, kicking and screaming child with your remaining hand in the next-best way, because ONLY ANTI-PALESTINIAN MONSTERS DO THAT.

[geek tragedy]

2. What soldier's job is subduing pre-teen boys with broken limbs? nt

[DetlefK]

3. Sigh. Obviously that's not his job. Please try to be serious.

His real job was standing guard or herding a crowd of people or whatever.

So, to come back to my riddle: How would you get rid of a misbehaving kid who prevents you from doing your job? What would you have done differently?

[geek tragedy]

4. Walk away nt

[DetlefK]

6. HAHAHA! I would like to see you explain that to your officer! HAHAHA!

"Why did you leave your position?"
"This 12 year old was mean to me!"
"Then why didn't you get rid of him?"
"Because you don't grab other people's kids, not even if they interfere with military operations. Duh."

[geek tragedy]

7. The soldier chased the boy down. He left his position to physically engage the boy.

Your authoritarian impulse here is misplaced.

Here's a thought: Israeli soldiers should not be sicced on Palestinian civilians, ever.

If you're so afraid that you need to beat up a pre-teen boy, opt out of the armed services.

[DetlefK]

8. So this is how you would handle bratty kids at your work-place? Running away from them?

And this is how you expect a soldier to react to bratty kids interrupting military-operations? Simply walking away?
What if there is a kid wreaking havoc in a hospital? GOD FORBID that somebody snatch that kid and put it in its place.

And are you seriously trying to tell me that the soldier wouldn't have returned to his duty once he had the kid handcuffed and handed over to someone else???
(Or in civilian terms: Once the little, misbehaving fucker is grounded, the adults can go back to work.)



I think, you are so pissed that you are desperately trying to blow this up into some big, meaningful event, logic be damned.
I mean, a soldier during a military-operation is not allowed to treat a bratty kid the same way a generic adult would treat a bratty kid?

[geek tragedy]

9. You really hate that little kid. Why? nt

[King_David]

10. You can't counter what he said huh?

[geek tragedy]

11. what he said was authoritarian nonsense and victim-blaming ala Trayvon Martin etc

People who get all pumped up defending armed soldiers beating up small children should reflect upon what's wrong with them.

And, for the record, no I would never tackle a 12 year old kid at my office and push his face into the ground and put him in a goddamn chokehold.

With my finger on the trigger of an assault weapon.

No different than what the Kossacks did.

Authoritarian mindsets do not vary much across cultures, or decades, or continents, in this case.

Germans should know better than to embrace such thinking.

People who get their jollies from child abuse are sick.

[King_David]

14. What kind of office are you working in?

[geek tragedy]

15. one in a civilized country nt

[King_David]

16. You're Canadian?

[geek tragedy]

17. New York. We don't believe in beating up other people's kids here.

Not even if the parents are tourists.

[DetlefK]

20. Do you believe in shoving a kid out of your office if it prevents you from doing your work?

Or will you simply leave your office until the kid allows you to return to your work?

[geek tragedy]

21. No.

I don't believe in beating up kids.

You realize that this kind of behavior from a parent towards a child would get custody taken away from them, right?

[DetlefK]

24. *facepalm*

Trying to shift topics again?
A parent doesn't need to resort to violence because it has non-violent means of discipline available.

Trying to twist words again?
I never talked about beating a kid.

Trying to avoid questions again?
So, I guess, when a bratty kid shows up, you soil your pants and run away?

[geek tragedy]

25. No, the way to deal with a bratty kid is to act like an adult, not a rabid dog.

Did you even watch the video?

The kids was RUNNING AWAY FROM THE IDF SOLDIER.

RUNNING AWAY.

You're taking victim-blaming to a new level.

[DetlefK]

28. The adult thing is to retreat and let the bratty kid keep doing whatever it's doing?

That's not my framing. You said, you would simply walk away.

No, I didn't see the video. (There is no video in the article.) Does it show how the altercation started? Or is this irrelevant to you and you believe that kids have the right to do whatever they want in any situation including situations that should be exclusively handled by adults?

[geek tragedy]

29. here's the video, start watching around 4:50

[King_David]

32. Really ?

[Little Tich]

33. You are one of the very few who support the arrest and beating of the 12 year old in the clip.

At least that's how I judge it from reading the comments to the clip. While you brag about being on the same level as all Congress Democrats on Israel, I don't think they would be on your side on this issue.

[King_David]

34. You are way off,

I support no such thing in this thread , try again because that is feeble.

I volunteer for Democratic party campaigns and my views on Israel are discussed and usually the same as the candidate.

If your views on Israel or half the people in this group were ever discussed in a Democratic Party campaign they would not last the day as a volunteer for such campaign.

[Little Tich]

36. Of course.

So what was the purpose of the clip then?

And what is your position on police / soldiers brutalizing kids?

[King_David]

37. That insulting question is like me asking you :

When did you stop beating your wife?

Geek said he lived in a 'civilized ' country, in NYC....implying the USA were superiorly civilized compared to Israel.

The point of my clip were to prove him wrong....that is why I asked if he lived in Canada.

[Little Tich]

40. I may be a little bit dumb, but I still don't understand your position on police / soldiers

brutalizing children, but it doesn't matter.

One of the points of the OP is that events that are widely seen as an outrage in the US, are considered OK in Israel. My perception is somewhat similar to the OP, and I think that's wrong if it's true.

My opinion in general when it comes to police / soldiers vs children is very clear - children should be handled as if they were made of porcelain, and they should never be put in traumatizing situations.

[geek tragedy]

12. Just to recap: you favor an armed thug chasing down a little boy and brutalizing

him--even while the kid has a broken arm--because the kid was disrespectful of the authority figures with guns?

The past is present for some in Germany, apparently.

[DetlefK]

18. I favor kids staying the fuck away from military operations.

As a parent, would you be comfortable with your kind running around among cops/paramedics/firefighters/soldiers in the midst of a deployment, taunting and harassing them?
Would you raise hell if one of them dared to pick up your child and carry it away from the serious business?



THIS KID HAD NO FUCKING BUSINESS BEING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. THIS IS ADULT-BUSINESS. ADULTS HANDLE THIS. NOT KIDS. KIDS HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO INTERFERE WHATSOEVER WHEN ADULTS HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF IMPORTANT THINGS. RESPONSIBLE PARENTS KEEP KIDS OUT OF ADULT SITUATIONS AND ESPECIALLY OUT OF HARM'S WAY.

It seems to me, you prefer to focus on the end of the situation, instead of how this altercation began.

[geek tragedy]

19. So, your position is that Palestinians have "NO FUCKING BUSINESS" being in their own villages?

Meanwhile, the foreign invaders and occupiers do belong there?

[DetlefK]

22. Seriously? Now you are trying it with twisting my words? This is getting ridiculous.

I never said that Palestinians have "no fucking business" there. I said that kids have "no fucking business" when the adults are handling important things. You seem to have reading-problems. Are you wearing your glasses?

[geek tragedy]

23. The soldier left his unit to chase down a little boy in order to give the little boy a beatdown.

And somehow you're making that the boy's fault.

Somehow, it doesn't occur to you that SOLDIERS SHOULD NOT LEAVE THEIR UNITS TO CHASE AFTER LITTLE BOYS IN ORDER TO BEAT THEM UP.

The little boy did not force the soldier to leave his unit. He left his unit because he wanted to rough up the boy.

That little boy was VERY FAR AWAY from where the IDF was operating when the goon caught up with him and started giving him the beatdown. Had the soldier stayed with his unit and followed orders, this would not have happened.

But, of course, the authoritarians and hasbarists will blame the Palestinian boy for being a boy on his own land.

[DetlefK]

26. And the palestinian adults brought the boy to the scene to pelt the soldiers with rocks.

Why didn't the palestinian adults say "You stay over there. We handle this?"
Why was this boy taunting and harassing and throwing rocks in the first place?

This boy had no business being there. You get into adult business, you get treated like an adult. If you can pelt soldiers with rocks like an adult, you get chased down and arrested like an adult.

[geek tragedy]

27. so you do approve of IDF troops beating the shit out of preteen Palestinian children

if they "taunt and harass" the IDF invaders.

Maybe you should start viewing Palestinians as human beings.

[DetlefK]

30. Maybe you start viewing children as children.

They have no business interacting with IDF-soldiers in the first place. Let the adults handle this.

If the kid decides to get into trouble, it has to bear the consequences.
If the palestinian parents decide to bring their kids into an adult situation, they shouldn't complain if the IDF-soldiers treat the kids like adults.

What was the IDF-soldier supposed to do? Let the interference go on because they are kids? Do kids now get a veto-right on military decisions?

[Israeli]

42. What if its the other way around DetlefK ?

And the settler adults brought the boys to the scene to pelt the soldiers with rocks.

Why didn't the settler adults say "You stay over there. We handle this?"
Why was these boys taunting and harassing and throwing rocks in the first place?

These boys had no business being there. You get into adult business, you get treated like an adult. If you can pelt soldiers with rocks like an adult, you get chased down and arrested like an adult. (only they dont get arrested )

Watch :

[Little Tich]

5. The IDF creates unlikely heroes - in a normal world, these kids would have been in school

without having to worry about anything, but apartheid has forced them to grow up quickly and protect their families' rights.

What's wrong with Israel, why can't they just stop this bullshit?

[geek tragedy]

13. Because Israelis actually approve of treating Palestinian kids like this.

Look at the responses from the pro-Israel cheerleaders here--they ALL think that boy got what he deserved.

NONE of them disapprove of a grown man, armed to the teeth, roughing up an 11-12 year old boy with a cast on his arm.

That's the mentality.

Same people who insist that supporting Israel is a progressive value.

Thppfftt to that.

[shira]

35. In a normal world, officers would use real force when attacked...

As you can see in the video, the officer (following protocol) was extremely reluctant to do so.

Meanwhile, the Tamimi parents - the pride of anti-Zionists everywhere - who send their kids out to engage armed soldiers (child abuse in all civil societies) celebrate the death of Israelis by glorifying their murderers...
https://www.facebook.com/nariman.tamimi.1/posts/1165973546752019?pnref=story

Tell me, what's wrong with the hostile anti-Israel crowd & why don't they stop their bullshit?

[Little Tich]

38. Do you have any concrete examples from this "normal world" where "real force" is used against

children?

While I find it not normal that women and children are demonstrating, this might be due to to IDF rules of engagement against demonstrating adult males. At the same time, I perceive that the IDF is more brutal towards children than other policing forces in a democracy, and that it's completely racially motivated - Jewish kids don't get beaten, shot or arrested in the same way.

There is an interesting parallel here with the US, where the police target and treat minorities in a discriminatory way.

[shira]

43. Real force against children attacking officers with rocks, right?

Last edited Fri Sep 4, 2015, 06:56 AM - Edit history (5)

That's what you're looking for? Whose parents support fascists (like Hamas) who want to see all Jews dead & put their children out there to confront & attack armed police.

Correct?

In the US, the officers in question aren't being pelted with rocks from the minorities they're brutalizing. They're just racists, period.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=111938
Check that entire article out & get back to me with your thoughts. Assume it's true. No denials, deflections.

The author, Daniel Borg, if you don't believe him....has a facebook page that you can easily find for yourself. Question him if you'd like.

[Truprogressive85]

31. Kids :( who see injustice

two teenagers are dangerous ?

where have we seen this before

oh that's right Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice

They called them thugs, menace to society,


Were the children of Civil Rights aka Children's Crusade “professional provocateur.” ?

[oberliner]

39. Eric Garner is dead

Kind of an important distinction.

[geek tragedy]

41. So are several hundred Palestinian kids. nt