Second Temimi Arrested in Assault on Soldiers

Early Wednesday, IDF soldiers arrested Nur Temimi, the cousin of Ahad Temimi, who was arrested Tuesday for cursing, kicking, and slapping two IDF officers last Friday. The army said that she was the second person seen in footage of the incident participating in the violence. Both Temimis are charged with rioting, incitement, attacking an army officer, assault, and other crimes. On Tuesday, the mother of Ahad Temimi was questioned in the incident as well.

The Temimis have a long history of terror and violence, Yisrael Hayom reported; altogether, the report said, the Temimi clan is responsible for the deaths of 55 Israelis in terror attacks over the years. In 1993, the father of Ahad Temimi was arrested on suspicion of having murdered two residents of Beit El, only to be released when it emerged that it was his cousin Nizar Temimi who was the culprit.

While in prison, he married Ahlam Temimi, the terrorist who was the mastermind behind the infamous bombing attack at the Sbarro pizza place in Yerushalayim in 2001. In an interview with Makor Rishon, Nariman Temimi, one of her relatives, said that Ahlam was justified in carrying out that attack, as it was a “legitimate way to oppose the occupation.”

Members of the family have participated in many demonstrations and riots, the report said, and one of the cousins, Bassam Temimi, is considered one of the Palestinian Authority’s biggest “experts” on “Jewish conspiracies” involving the kidnapping and slaughter of Arab children by Jews. He is joined by brother-in-law Man’al Temimi, who is very active on social media, with his chief messages incitement against Israel and anti-semitic messages.

The footage and images of the confrontation last Friday that was released Tuesday shocked Israelis, who watched as the two Temimis cursed, kicked and slapped two IDF officers in a demonstration that took place in their village of Nebi Salah on Friday. The army said that prior to the incident, soldiers had removed the resident of a house from where stones were being thrown on them, and did not allow the residents back inside. At that point, a large number of Palestinian girls and women emerged and began shouting epithets at the soldiers, “in an effort to create a provocation,” the army said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the father of Ahad Temimi told Army Radio that the incident was the fault of the soldiers, not his daughter. “You are using this for incitement against my daughter, but you do not want to hear what the soldier did before the film was shot,” he said, claiming that the officer had acted in a violent manner against the girl’s siblings, and that she was simply trying to protect her younger brothers and sisters, and a cousin who had been hit by a rubber bullet. “You are trying to use this footage to claim that Israelis are moral, it is nothing but more Israeli propaganda. When you have soldiers in your backyard, this is how children grow up. Does it make sense that a soldier would be the victim of a soldier?”