Why is the West praising Malala, but ignoring Ahed?
Is an empowered Palestinian girl not worthy of Western feminist admiration?
Khoja-Moolji, Shenila
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/west-praising-malala-ignoring-ahed-171227194606359.ht
Date Written: 2017-12-28
Publisher: Al Jazeera
Year Published: 2017
Resource Type: Article
Cx Number: CX22215
Khoja-Moolji examines the lack of media response to the plight of 16 year-old Ahed Tamimi, detained for allegedly assaulting an Israeli soldier during a confrontation at her home during which Israeli soldiers shot a fourteen-year-old child.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
Ahed Tamimi, a 16-year-old Palestinian girl, was recently arrested in a night-time raid on her home. The Israeli authorities accuse her of "assaulting" an Israeli soldier and an officer. A day earlier she had confronted Israeli soldiers who had entered her family's backyard. The incident happened shortly after a soldier shot her 14-year-old cousin in the head with a rubber bullet, and fired tear-gas canisters directly at their home, breaking windows.
Her mother and cousin were arrested later as well. All three remain in detention.
There has been a curious lack of support for Ahed from Western feminist groups, human rights advocates and state officials who otherwise present themselves as the purveyors of human rights and champions of girls' empowerment...
...Ahed, like Malala, has a substantial history of standing up against injustices. She has been protesting the theft of land and water by Israeli settlers. She has endured personal sacrifice, having lost an uncle and a cousin to the occupation. Her parents and brother have been arrested time and again. Her mother has been shot in the leg. Two years ago, another video featuring her went viral - this time she was trying to protect her little brother from being taken by a soldier.
Why isn't Ahed a beneficiary of the same international outcry as Malala? Why has the reaction to Ahed been so different?
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