TAMIMI: THE HEROINE OF A WHOLE COUNTRY

She was a girl; She was 7 years old when she had her first confrontation with “Tsahal” the so-called “Israel Defense Forces” (IDF in English). A group of soldiers broke into her parents' house, looking for “evidence” of alleged terrorist activity. The girl walked towards them with clenched fists, shouting at them that they had no right to violate the home. Surprised by the gesture, the soldiers left.

Since then, Ahed Tamimi has been in almost all the demonstrations of Palestinians who live, like her, in the West Bank, always doing so peacefully, until at the age of 14 she made the front pages of the Arab press when she bit a soldier. Jew who was trying to arrest his younger sister. 

Two years later she masterfully slapped another Jewish soldier who entered her home to search her. That time she was sentenced to eight months in prison. She was released after seven months, her sentence almost over.

Tamimi is not a violent person. She describes herself as a pacifist, but also resistant. She knows that history is in her favor. The West Bank has been illegally occupied by Israel since 1948, when the Jewish state was born. Then about 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their lands; and illegal settler settlements continue to eat away at Palestinian property.

After the famous slap, her teenage face, wrapped in thick hair of curls and a reddish tone, has become the icon of her country. Her image is on walls, schools and other public places. Nabi Saleh, the town where she was born is known throughout the world. They admire her; They chant her name in the demonstrations, “she is our heroine,” her compatriots proclaim. Tamimi would like to dedicate herself solely to her law studies, but current affairs pursue her.

On October 20, Tamimi was detained again and taken to an isolation center where she is held incommunicado. Her parents haven't been able to see her yet. The IDF claims that she will be sentenced for “incitement to violence,” although there is no evidence of this. At 22 years old, the young Palestinian has not lost her courage, her status as a granite stone that no Jew can break.

She's not the only one resistant, of course. There are other Tamimis in the territories occupied by Israel, whose names are known, maintaining the same peaceful protests. The war in Gaza has caused hundreds, if not thousands, of young people to take to the streets to condemn the bombings of the enclave. At least 149 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by live fire by Israeli soldiers.

Ahed has shown that she is not afraid of repression. “They will have to kill me if they want to silence me,” she said in an interview with an Arab television network, which made her mother burst into sobs.

Other Palestinian children and young people also show no fear of the Tsahal's threats against them. They throw stones at them with slings, even knowing that if they are in the crosshairs of enemy assault rifles, they could die or be seriously injured. Israel uses bullets and shoots to kill; Their soldiers are well trained.
Tamimi does not despair that one day there will be the independent Palestinian state that the United Nations so desires. And then the two communities learn to live in peace, which will not be easy, but not impossible.

But in the meantime, the settlers in the settlements participate in the attacks on the Palestinian inhabitants. They set fire to their cars; They attack them and even shoot them. Jewish hatred goes so far as to prevent them from harvesting the olives from their trees, which are now at their optimal point. Tamimi is not a voice in the wilderness.

Photos: Tamimi as a child facing Israeli soldiers
Tamimi currently