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Ahed Tamimi
عهد التميمي
Tamimi in 2016
Born	(2001-01-31) January 31, 2001 (age 23) Nabi Salih, West Bank
Known for	activism
Parent	Bassem (father)

Ahed Tamimi (Template:Lang-ar ‘Ahad at-Tamīmī, also Romanized Ahd; born January 31, 2001) is a Palestinian activist from the village of Nabi Salih in the occupied West Bank. She is best known for appearances in images and videos in which she confronts Israeli soldiers. Her supporters consider her a symbol of resistance against Israeli occupation in the West Bank, a courageous advocate for Palestinian autonomy while her detractors argue her acts are dramatized performances aimed at discrediting Israel. In December 2017, she was detained by Israeli authorities for slapping a soldier in a viral video.

Activism

2012—2016

During 2012—2016 (and since), the Tamimi family were involved in protests and political agitation demonstrating their opposition to the expansion of Jewish settlements and detention of Palestinians. Tamimi shares similar convictions to her family and commentators have been polarised in their assessment of her. She believes documented, organized protests against the Israeli occupation would lead to wider recognition of the Palestinian struggle for autonomy; her viral images and videos have produced a wave of public reactions—‌recognizable not only in Israel and Palestine but internationally as well.

To her supporters, she has been described as a "hero" for opposing those who enforce Israeli occupation; detractors refer to her actions as a "performance" aimed at discrediting Israel. Her distinctive physical appearance has fascinated both her supporters and critics; "A great deal of work goes into ‘othering’ Palestinians", journalist Ben Ehrenreich notes, "to casting them as some really recognizable other". Thus, Ehrenreich writes, "when suddenly the kid doesn’t fit into those stereotypes—when she actually looks like a European kid or an American kid—then suddenly all that work of dehumanization can’t function". Such opposition, including from Israeli parliamentarian Michael Oren, accuse Tamimi of acting in "American clothes" to provoke responses from soldiers.

In August 2012, when she was 11, Tamimi was photographed attempting to stop the arrest of her mother, an act which President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas commended for her courage. By 2012, she had become an internationally-recognized figure; as an Israeli soldier arrested her older brother, Tamimi confronted him—‌despite being twice her size—‌while waving a fist—‌a scene which earned her an invitation by then-Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. She gained notoriety once more three years later, when Tamimi was filmed biting and striking a masked Israeli soldier who was apprehending her brother for throwing stones.

By 2015, her image had gone viral and international media came to her family's home in Nabi Salih to interview her.

In December 2016, Tamimi was denied a visa by the US for a speaking tour titled "No Child Behind Bars/Living Resistance".

2017—2018

When she was sixteen, Tamimi participated in a conference on the role of women in the Palestinian popular resistance which was held in the European parliament on 26 September 2017.

On 15 December 2017, Tamimi took part in a demonstration in Nabi Salih opposing the expansion of Israeli settlements near her village. The Israeli army claims that protest turned violent when around 200 of the demonstrators threw stones at Israeli soldiers; the soldiers organized to quell the unrest and entered the Tamimi house to subdue protesters who, according to the army, continued to throw stones from inside the house. After removing the stone throwers, two soldiers remained at the entrance of the house. Tamimi, along with her mother and cousin Nour, approached the two soldiers outside the Tamimi home, slapping, kicking, and shoving them—all while being filmed. The civilians appearing in the video are all female. The armed soldiers do not retaliate.

According to Tamimi's testimony in court, the soldiers in front of the house were the same soldiers who had shot her 15-year-old cousin in the head with a rubber bullet, wounding him, an hour before the incident: "Then I saw the same soldiers who hit my cousin, this time in front of my house. I could not keep quiet and I responded as I did". The cousin was left in a medically induced coma to remove the rubber bullet from his head, and regained consciousness a few days later. The cousin who was shot was jailed for three months earlier in the year for stone throwing; according to the cousin the incident occurred immediately after he scaled the wall of a villa under construction at the edge of the village in order to check if Israeli soldiers were still in the compound.

After the video circulated through social media, on 19 December Israeli forces raided the Tamimi house and arrested Ahed; the house was searched and recording materials were seized. Despite concerns—the use of military court for a minor who may have been singled out for "embarrassing the occupation"—thirteen days later, Tamimi was charged with assault, incitement, and throwing stones; her mother and Nour joined her, having been arrested in relation to the incident. Ahed's arrest and her filmed confrontation spurred debate in Palestinian and Israeli societies, as well as in other countries; worldwide protests followed and Israelis considered whether it had been appropriate for the soldiers not to hit back.

In a 2017 The Guardian interview, journalist Harriet Sherwood who had already met her four years before considered Tamimi's discourse "rehearsed", citing stating "We want to liberate Palestine. We want to live as free people. The soldiers are here to protect the settlers and prevent us reaching our land". Sherwood added that at the time "alongside the fledgling activist who insisted that she was not frightened of the armed soldiers she passed every day, there was a little girl anxious about being photographed near a military watchtower. At 12, Ahed wanted to become a lawyer when she grew up so she could fight for Palestinian rights. At 16 she could be facing a long prison sentence. Whatever the outcome of the Israeli judicial process, she looks certain to spend the next formative months of her life in prison, rather than studying for exams. Her story is not just about one child, but a generation – two generations – without hope and security. Tragically and unforgivably, the same bleak prospects could await a third."

Documentary

The documentary entitled Radiance Of Resistance featured then 14-year-old Tamimi and 9-year-old Janna Ayyad. Bend, Oregon-based Jesse Roberts of Rise Up International and Jesse Locke of AMZ Productions traveled to Nabi Saleh in 2015 to film the documentary. It was "screened at a number of festivals worldwide in 2017" including at the Respect Human Rights Film Festival which took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 3 to 8 March, where it won the award for the Best Documentary. Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) banned the film, rating it as Not Allowed For All Ratings (NAR) because it "lacked "counterbalance" and was ""skewed" and "inflammatory", with the "potential to stoke racial and religious disharmony" among Singapore’s multi-ethnic population. The makers of the documentary described the government's decision as "blatant censorship".

Personal life

Ahed Tamimi was born on January 31, 2001 to Bassem and Nariman Tamimi in Nabi Salih, a small village located about 20 kilometers (12.4 mi) northwest of Ramallah in the West Bank. The Tamimi family arrived in the village from Hebron in the 1600s and about 600 of its inhabitants are related by blood or marriage. According to Harriet Sherwood of The Guardian, Tamimi's siblings—Waed, Mohammed, and Salem—and parents "have known only a life of checkpoints, identity papers, detentions, house demolitions, intimidation, humiliation and violence; she is part of the second generation of Palestinians to live under the occupation.

References

1. ^ McNeill, Sophie (January 17, 2018). "Israeli court orders detention of Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi until end of her assault trial". ABC News. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
2. ^ Jabari, Lawahz (September 12, 2015). "West Bank Teen Ahed Tamimi Becomes Poster Child for Palestinians". NBC. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
3. ^ Eglash, Ruth (December 19, 2017). "Israelis call her 'Shirley Temper.' Palestinians call her a hero". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
4. ^ Serham, Yasmeen (January 5, 2018). "Who Is Ahed Tamimi". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 7, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
5. "One picture is worth a thousand stigmas". Haaretz. August 28, 2012. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
6. "PHOTOS: Israeli forces crack down on weekly protest in Nabi Saleh". 972 Magazine. August 24, 2012. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
7. "Cheap shots: Palestinians put kids in the line of fire". September 11, 2012. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
8. "West Bank Teen Ahed Tamimi Becomes Poster Child for Palestinians". NBC News. September 12, 2015. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
9. "This Viral Video Of an Israeli Soldier Trying to Arrest a Palestinian Boy Says a lot". The Washington Post. August 31, 2015. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
10. ^ Sherwood, Harriet (January 2, 2018). "Palestinian 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi is the latest child victim of Israel's occupation". The Guardian. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
11. "Israel arrests Palestinian girl Ahed Tamimi over viral video of soldier slapping". USA Today. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
12. "The role of Women in the Palestinian Popular Resistance". freedomflotilla.org. December 6, 2017. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
13. samidoun (September 27, 2017). "Crowds pack European Parliament conference on Palestinian women with Leila Khaled, Sahar Francis and Ahed Tamimi". samidoun.net. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
14. ^ Palestinian girl lauded, arrested for confronting Israeli troops Archived December 30, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, CBS News, December 21, 2017
15. "Watch: IDF soldiers provoked but refrain from responding". Ynetnews. December 18, 2017. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
16. Two Palestinian women in court over Israeli soldier slap video Archived January 1, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Times of Israel (AFP reprint), December 21, 2017
17. Soldier-slapping Palestinian girl remanded for another 4 days, Times of Israel, 25 December 2017
18. ABBAS PRAISES FAMILY OF JAILED PALESTINIAN GIRL WHO SLAPPED SOLDIERS, JPost, 27 December 2017
19. Cousin filmed slapping soldiers with Ahed Tamimi indicted on assault Archived January 1, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, December 31, 2017, Times of Israel
20. The Story Behind Ahed Tamimi's Slap: Her Cousin's Head Shattered by Israeli Soldier's Bullet, Ha'aretz, 5 January 2015
21. Yotam Berger (December 28, 2017). "Israel Extends Detention of Palestinian Teen Who Was Filmed Slapping Soldier in Viral Video". Haaretz,. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
22. "Israel extends detention of Ahd al-Tamimi, Palestinian teen activist who 'insulted' IDF soldiers". The New Arab. December 26, 2017. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
23. "Palestinian teen activist could face prison after slapping Israeli soldier". ABC News. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on December 21, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
24. Beaumont, Peter (January 1, 2018). "Palestinian girl filmed slapping Israeli soldier is charged with assault". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
25. Peled, Danielle (January 1, 2018). "Guerrilla Ad Campaign in London Calls for Release of Soldier-slapping Palestinian Girl Ahed Tamimi". Haaretz. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
26. "Acts of Resistance and Restraint Defy Easy Definition in the West Bank". The New York Times. December 22, 2017. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
27. ^ Cheng, Kenneth (January 2, 2018). "Film screening on Palestinian girls living through conflict cancelled due to 'inflammatory' narrative". Today. Singapore. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
28. Rasic, Jared (June 22, 2017). "Fighting For Peace: Find the "Radiance in Resistance". The Source. Bend, Oregon. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
29. Ungku, Fathin (January 3, 2018). "Singapore bans film focused on indicted Palestinian teen activist". Singapore. Reuters. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
30. "Respect Human Rights Film Festival". Respect Human Rights Film Festival. Belfast, Northern Ireland. nd. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
31. "Singapore Authorities Ban Documentary on Palestinian Teen Activists for 'Skewed Narrative' · Global Voices". Global Voices. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
32. You cannot be Free without my Freedom: the Struggle of Nabi Salih (PDF) (Report). Oakland, California: Oakland Institute. 2016. p. 8. Retrieved January 4, 2018.

External links

• International Declaration: Freedom to Ahed Tamimi and all Palestinian Political Prisoners

• 2001 births
• Living people
• Palestinian human rights activists
• Palestinian prisoners and detainees
• Prisoners and detainees of Israel
• Palestinian children
• People from Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate
• Child activists