The Economist’s book review “The View On the Ground” asserts that the Tamimi family of Nabi Saleh, are victims; ignoring that the Tamimi family was incriminated in the 2001 Sbarro bombing that massacred 16 and injured 130 civilians in Jerusalem. Ahlam Tamimi coordinated this attack, which brutally ended so many Israeli lives. Ahlam Tamimi had a huge grin on her face while in prison when she learned that she was responsible for killing eight children, instead of the three kids she initially believed to be slain. The book review failed to mention that the Tamimi family continues to promote terrorist attacks against Israelis to this very day.
Ben Ehrenreich spent months living in the West Bank between 2011 and 2014, publishing The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine based off of his experiences during that time. Ehrenreich has perpetuated a lengthy history of misrepresenting facts, such as when Ehrenreich stated that the PA was not involved in the stabbing intifada when Mahmoud Abbas himself welcomed the spilling of Jewish blood. From Ehrenreich’s book, The Economist staff came to the conclusion that Israel oppresses Palestinians in the West Bank town of Nabi Saleh.
Bassem Tamimi, another member of the Tamimi clan, has encouraged violence and was arrested on multiple occasions. Bassem has claimed to practice nonviolence, yet, in an article by Petra Marquardt-Bigman in The Tower, Bassem Tamimi stated: “We see stones as our message.” Bassem Tamimi was convicted of attempting to throw stones at IDF soldiers in 2012, blatantly indicating that he is indeed a violent person and incites others to commit violence against soldiers and civilians.
Four-year-old baby Adele Bitton after her mother’s vehicle was attacked by stone-throwers. Adele died as a result of injuries sustained that caused a lung infection. In another incident, Asher Palmer and his son Yonatan died at the hands of a Palestinian man throwing rocks at Asher’s vehicle.
Ehrenreich’s book review is further used by The Economist to perpetuate the notion that the terrorist Tamimi family has unshakable morals. This is not the first time that the Tamimi operatives have been deified; even the New York Times has been apologetic towards the violent hostilities of the Tamimi clan, seeing stone throwing as a part of a healthy resistance.
Other members of the Tamimi family, such as Manal, and Nariman Tamimi, have proposed a third Intifada against Israel, according to Marquardt-Bigman. Manal Tamimi tweeted: “A new #intefada [sic] #Jerusalem, a strong clashes taking a place now at the old city and Zionist IOF losing control, I hope all of them gonna die.”
Upon further examination, Nariman Tamimi, wife of Bassem Tamimi, promoted the Facebook page of Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri, the suicide bomber who blew himself in the Sbarro attack. Additionally, Nariman in October 2015 encouraged people to engage in individual terrorist acts in Jerusalem. The slant of the book review takes against Israel and siding with vicious terrorists is unfathomable. Ahlam Tamimi has also openly expressed her own jihadist views and gave her thanks supporting the deaths of children and innocent bystanders wishing for blood to be continued to be spilled. Ahlam Tamimi isn’t a victim of Israel; she’s proven herself to be one of the many minds behind the violence and vitriol bent on the destruction of Israel.
Inciting violence towards innocent civilians, while claiming to be oppressed is reprehensible. It befits the author of the book review to delve deeper into the real phenomena that occur instead of giving Ehrenreich’s book such contemptible attention. Ehrenreich believes the hype and propaganda that the Tamimi clan has indoctrinated him with, and eagerly spreads misinformation. His perspective has been mired by seeing only one side of the coin that destroys lives. It’s imperative to reiterate that Ehrenreich from the onset made his choice to write from a biased perspective, largely from a terrorist’s families’ perspective. It implores the reader of The Economist to read with a careful eye, and to be mindful of the facts between the heresay of the Tamimi’s, and the reality of what is actually occurring in the West Bank. It is of genuine concern that such a widely read magazine publishes such biased information.
