U.S. Comedian Sarah Silverman, who comes from a Jewish family, has publically come out in support of iconic Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, making her the latest high profile celebrity to support the jailed 17-year-old.
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“Jews have to stand up EVEN when — ESPECIALLY when — the wrongdoing is BY Jews/the Israeli government,” Silverman, who supposted progressive U.S. senator Bernie Sanders for president, wrote in a tweet in which she shared a link to Amnesty International’s campaign calling on Israel to free Tamimi.
Ahed was arrested and indicted on 12 charges including assaulting an Israeli soldier and throwing stones after a video of her slapping a soldier in her home’s yard went viral. It was revealed later that the Palestinian girl was upset after soldiers had shot her 14-year-old cousin in the face a day earlier.
The strong-worded appeal by Silverman comes days after a military court barred the media and public from attending Tamimi’s first hearing earlier this week. Ahed was arrested in December and has been denied bail by the presiding judge. Israel tries most Palestinians, including minors, in military courts which have a conviction rate of more than 99 percent.
Her arrest and trial have been harshly criticized by many human rights organizations in Palestine, Israel and the world including the United Nations. Also many celebrities, academicas, actors and artists from around the world have come out in support of the iconic teen over the past few weeks.
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Earlier this week more than two-dozen high-profile art and film figures, as well as athletes and academics, from the U.S. signed a letter calling for Ahed’s release in which they compared the jailed teen to slain Black teen Trayvon Martin.
Netflix Marvel series star Rosario Dawson, Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams, famed progressive actor Danny Glover, activist and author Angela Davis and philosopher Cornel West were among the 27 figures who signed the petition.
Meanwhile Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick, who is famous for drawing the iconic 1968 poster of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, revealed Tuesday his latest painting titled “There is a real Wonder Woman” depicting Palestinian imprisoned teen Ahed Tamimi as a superhero.
Over the years Ahed gained international attention for her brave actions against Israeli occupation forces during protests and clashes in and around her village. In 2015 a video of her, along with female members of her family, went viral showing her fighting an Israeli occupation soldier who was pinning down her 12-year old male cousin.