The Spirit of King David Lives on in Israel

Here is one Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph which is rare for two reasons:

It wasn't staged

It makes a right-wing point

To be fair, the judges were understandably confused in their giddiness to publicize a phalanx of Israeli police unleashed on a teenaged girl. And the picture's anomalies are balanced by the typically erroneous caption (the girl lives in Jerusalem, not a "settlement").

What the picture accurately captures, however, is the courage and devotion to Biblical values that I have seen in many young religious Zionists. Notice the similarity of Nili's words to those of David regarding Goliath (I saw this long line of policemen and I thought to myself, 'Behind them is one man - Olmert, but behind me is G-d):

Pulitzer Prize Photo Star Beaten Seconds Afterwards

The latest breaking news photograph to win the prestigious Pulitzer Prize shows Nili, a 17-year-old girl from Jerusalem, facing off against dozens of policemen as she attempts to defend the Jewish homes in Amona.

Photos taken seconds later, which were not widely shown around the world, show how the story really ended, however: Nili is seen lying on the ground, with policemen beating her in the head with a club.

The prize-winning photo shows a long line of helmet-clad, black-uniformed, club-wielding policemen facing off against a young woman protestor; she is leaning heavily upon the large thick-plastic shield held by one of the policemen, as if to try and stop the entire line of policemen from advancing.

Nili, who did not divulge her family name, says the picture is a "desecration of G-d's name, as it shows Jews fighting Jews."

The Knesset, Israel's parliament, conducted an inquiry into the police violence at Amona. An English video documents the excessive use of police force which triggered the probe.

The police were engaged in forcibly removing many hundreds of protestors from the hilltop community of Amona, overlooking Ofrah in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria, in preparation for the destruction of nine Jewish concrete-and-stone homes. The Supreme Court had ruled that the homes were built on Arab-owned land - though no one had ever claimed ownership and the land had never been lived on or worked by Arabs.

The Associated Press prize-winning photographer is Oded Balilty of Israel. The picture in question had already won other international awards, including World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, and more.

Nili returned with her parents to Amona on Thursday, and showed an AP press team and Israeli journalists the exact site of the photo. Sometimes choking back tears as she read aloud a prepared statement, Nili said the following: "When the State of Israel acts against the Land of Israel, and its soldiers and policemen are sent on missions of violence and destruction and expulsion of Jewish life from Gush Katif and northern Shomron and Amona - this is not a badge of honor, but rather a badge of shame.

"When I look at those policemen, I am unable to understand: Why did not even one of them stop in the name of ethics and ask himself if the order he received was moral or just? They simply acted as robots, at best, but in many cases as genuine sadists.

"People who look at the picture ask me: 'What did you think you were doing, one girl against a wave of black-uniformed policemen? Why didn't you run away?' The answer is that we came to struggle [against the injustice]. We didn't come to surrender or to run away. We felt and thought that all of this evil and injustice must come up against a strong wall of determination.

"I saw this long line of policemen and I thought to myself, 'Behind them is one man - Olmert, but behind me is G-d... Whoever looks around at the ruins of these homes in Amona [which remain un-rebuilt - ed.] understands that there was no purpose to this operation other than the desire for destruction and self-hate.

"It must be understood that there is a complete generation here of youth who grew up in Eretz [Land of] Yisrael, who believe in the Torah and Eretz Yisrael, who insists on leading the Nation of Israel in a different direction, and who is willing to fight for it.

"The violence and cruelty in Amona did not break us - but rather strengthened us. They can break our heads and bones, but they cannot break our spirit."

Asked if she sees herself as a heroine, Nili said, "I try to do whatever I can for Eretz Yisrael and the Nation of Israel, to do what is necessary according to the Torah... I don't want to talk about myself."

Nili made reference to the pictures taken immediately after the Pulitzer-winner, "in which the policemen are 'punishing' me for daring to stand against them. But I have news for them: They did not succeed. What I did in Amona, I am willing, if necessary, to do again."

Photos and video can be found here.