Palestine Solidarity Committee Joins Boston Protest for Imprisoned Teen

Student activists from the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee joined other Boston-area Palestinian rights advocacy groups Saturday to protest the treatment of 17-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi.

Saturday’s event came as Tamimi’s father has been calling for justice for the Palestinian teenager, who was arrested in December for slapping an Israeli soldier after her 14-year-old cousin was shot in the face.

Tamimi faces 12 charges in Israel’s military court.

Roughly two dozen people, including members of the College Palestine Solidarity Committee, gathered in downtown Boston to protest Tamimi’s arrest.

“Hopefully today will continue to raise awareness,” said Christian B. Tabash ’21, a Palestine Solidarity Committee co-vice president. “Living in the United States, it is extremely difficult to even comprehend what life is like as a Palestinian under Israeli occupation.”

Tabash said he hopes informing the student body—and public at large—will help “instill a sense of urgency for justice,” which in turn would affect global change.

“It’s hard to get people motivated,” said Heide L. Rogers ’21, who helped organize the Harvard group’s participation at the demonstration. “I was telling other freshmen about it yesterday, what we’re doing today, and nobody knew anything. And it’s definitely something I think people should know about.”

Chanting slogans like “Israel, Israel, we say no—occupation has to go,” and “Free, free, Ahed Tamimi,” demonstrators distributed leaflets and spoke to passerby as part of their quest to raise awareness for Ahed Tamimi’s case.

Some protesters wore keffiyehs, traditional checkered square scarves that have become associated with Palestinian nationalism in the past century.

Tabash said even small gestures, like the solidarity committee’s efforts to publicize events on campus, “continue to raise a little awareness, even if people don’t show up.”

Members of other Boston-based Palestinian solidarity groups, such as the Northeastern University Students for Justice in Palestine and Boston University Students for Justice in Palestine, also participated in Saturday’s protest. Other local advocacy groups, such as Jewish Voice for Peace Boston, were also in attendance.

“Through our work in the PSC and through these demonstrations and events that we’ll host in the spring, we hope that we’ll be some type of catalyst for change,” Tabash said.

—Staff writer Simone C. Chu can be reached at simone.chu@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @simonechu_.