A NEW ‘ANGELIC TRAYVON’

Tariq Abu Khdeir’s family and the media are making the Florida high school sophomore look like an innocent angel who was beaten and kicked by Israeli cops for no good reason

From the outset let me make this crystal clear: There was absolutely no justification for Israeli cops to beat and kick 15-year-old Tariq Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian-American from Tampa, Florida who was visiting with relatives in East Jerusalem. His beating looked much worse than the beating a CHP officer gave a woman on the 10 Freeway in L.A. last week.

Now it is obvious that the Israeli cops were thoroughly pissed off. Why? Because they had been attacked with rocks and Molotov cocktails by young masked Palestinians who were rioting in protest over the murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdair. By the way, Khdair just happens to be Tariq’s cousin.

While not defending the cops, Israeli authorities say that Tarik was one of six youths who had attacked the police. All were masked, including Tariq, and the Florida youth had a sling shot in his possession when grabbed by the cops.

Tariq claims he did not participate in the riots, merely watching them from the sidelines when he was grabbed by the cops and beaten for no good reason. His family says the same thing and goes even further. His mother says he was knocked unconscious by a blow to the head, then had his hands tied and was further beaten and kicked while unconscious and tied up.

While the video show the cops beating and kicking the boy, there is no way anyone could see from the video if Tariq was unconscious or if his hands were tied. What we have here is the making of a new ‘angelic Trayvon.’

If you recall from the Trayvon Martin case, his parents and the media went out of their way to make him look like an innocent angel. Pictures of a younger Trayvon were shown side by side with the ugly mug shot of George Zimmerman. The media kept reporting that Trayvon had been walking down the street with some ice tea and Skittles, when in fact it was Arizona Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail. Skittles and the cocktail are mixed with codeine or Robitussin to make up Lean, a popular hip hop drug.

Trayvon’s parents never acknowledged and the media avoided mentioning that their darling son had been caught with stolen jewelry and a burglary tool in his backpack; been suspended from his school three times; defaced a school door with the letters "WTF"; and had marijuana in his system the night of the confrontation with George Zimmerman.

The Martin family and the media painted a picture of an innocent angelic Trayvon. And the same thing is now happening with Tariq Abu Khdeir.

I firmly believe that Tariq is lying when he says he did not participate in the rioting and was merely watching from the sidelines. Here are three reasons why:

1. The riots took place in protest over the murder of Tariq’s cousin Mohammed Abu Khdair. Tariq says he and Mohammed were close and that he had been with his cousin shortly before the boy was kidnapped and murdered. Based on that, it is logical to conclude Tariq participated in the riots.

2. The Palestinian rock and Molotov cocktail throwers were masked. Tariq was masked when grabbed by the cops. If he wasn’t participating in the riots, why was he masked?

3. When the cops grabbed him, Tariq was in possession of a sling shot. Palestinian youths have long used sling shots to shoot stones at Israeli civilians, cops and soldiers. The Israeli cops that grabbed Tariq had been attacked with rocks, stones shot from sling shots and firebombs. Again, by using logic one would have to conclude Tariq participated in the attacks on the cops and was not the innocent bystander he claims to have been.

Anyone with half a brain can understand why the cops were pissed off at Tariq. But that does not give them the right to beat and kick the boy. Those cops deserve to be severely disciplined. Because two wrongs don’t make a right, Tariq deserves to be punished too. Since his parents are obviously not going to discipline him, Tariq needs to face justice before the Israeli courts for his participation in the attacks on those cops.

When the Khdeir family returns to Florida later this month, they plan to file a lawsuit against the government of Israel. They are laying the groundwork for that suit by, with the help of the media, making Tariq into another angelic Trayvon.