Poem by Yehonatan Geffen comparing Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi to Anne Frank, Hannah Szenes and Joan of Arc infuriated Defense Minister Lieberman, who sought to then ban Geffen from all Army Radio broadcasts; AG Mandelblit said Lieberman had no legal standing to do so, an opinion Lieberman disavowed.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed Army Radio Commander Shimon Elkabetz to stop playing or interviewing Yehonatan Geffen in any of the station’s broadcasts after the poet compared Palestinian teen provocateur Ahed Tamimi, indicted for attacking IDF soldiers, to Anne Frank, Hannah Szenes and Joan of Arc.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, however, determined Lieberman had no legal standing to intervene in the station’s broadcasts, to which the defense minister retorted he was “rejecting Mandelblit’s opinion out of hand.”
Geffen posted the poem on his Instagram account Monday along with a photograph of Tamimi, and described the young woman as a fighter for justice. “A pretty 17 year old did a terrible thing, and when a proud Israeli officer once again invaded her home, she slapped him,” Geffen wrote.
“She was born into it and that slap carried 50 years of occupation and humiliations. On the day the story of the struggle is told, Ahed Tamimi, with red hair, like David who slapped Goliath, you’ll be alongside Joan of Arc, Hannah Szenes and Anne Frank,” he concluded the poem.
The poem drew intense criticism, and prompted Lieberman to announce Tuesday morning that, “The State of Israel will not provide a platform for a drunkard who compares a girl who perished in the Holocaust and a hero who combated the Nazi regime with Ahed Tamimi, a brat who attacked a soldier. Geffen’s chasing of headlines is sickening and outrageous.”
Lieberman added in his Facebook post on the matter, “The proper stage for Geffen’s nonsense are broadcasts of Hezbollah’s Al-Manar network.”
Source: Ynet News
