Israeli impunity

The trial of Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian teenager, began in an Israeli military court this week. The case has become an international rallying point for humanitarian activists who see it as an example of all that is wrong with the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Israeli culture minister has referred to Tamimi as a ‘terrorist’ who is inciting racist hatred against the state of Israel. This is nothing but another smokescreen to mask the atrocities of the Israeli state against the occupied Palestinian people. Tamimi was arrested at the age of 16 after she punched two Israeli soldiers outside her home after one of her cousins was shot in the head with a rubber bullet. The anger was justified and her status as a teenager should be enough to draw international condemnation but there has been little change in how global superpowers have responded. This is a clear violation of international law on the rights of children during war – but such niceties have never mattered to Israel. The latest reports also confirm that Palestinian children in Israeli custody are repeatedly beaten in what should be classified as the use of torture on children. However, Israel’s hallowed place in the international order has hardly changed.

This international hypocrisy is a continuing reflection of the selective nature of global justice. Not only has Israel denied the rights of children, it is also denying the rights of the sick. The WHO has revealed that over 55 Palestinians died last year waiting for permits to travel for medical treatment. This is a continuous denial of the right to life and right to healthcare. A year ago, the number was only two, which suggests that Israel has made the policy stricter by design. Israel restricts the import of high-quality medical equipment into Palestine under the logic that it could be used to manufacture weapons. Only 54 percent of the 25,000 applications to travel for medical treatment for Palestinians were accepted last year compared to around 92 percent as recently as 2012. This is part of a growing impunity that Israel feels it has with a US administration that will continue to back it whatever it does. The security justification simply does not make sense in the case of the sick or children. The only thing that the Tamimi trial confirms is that Israel has no desire for a peaceful solution to the Palestinian question. Will the world step up? That seems unlikely as Israeli violations of human rights continue to take place without international action or outcry.