Ahed Tamimi, an icon of the Palestinian cause, was arrested this Monday in Nabi Saleh, her native village in the West Bank, in a raid by the Israeli army “aimed at arresting individuals suspected of being involved in terrorist activities and inciting hatred.” The raids in the West Bank have intensified since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Hamas on October 7, and now reach 2,150 Palestinian detainees, according to the Commission on Affairs for Detainees and Former Detainees.
This 22-year-old girl is used to run-ins with Israeli authorities. When she was 11 years old, a video of her went viral in which she threatened an Israeli soldier who had come to her house to arrest her brother with her fist. The images went around the world and even reached Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who gave her an award for her bravery. Three years later another video would be released in which a group of women, including Ahed, tried to free her little brother from an Israeli soldier who was suffocating him.
Ahed's story became even better known in 2017, when she was imprisoned for eight months for hitting two Israeli soldiers. On the day of the incident, a cousin of his had been hit by a rubber bullet, which would leave him with lifelong scars, while demonstrating against Donald Trump's decision to move the United States embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. When two Israeli soldiers showed up at Ahed's house a few hours later, she and her cousin tried to kick them off the property. In a video recorded by her mother, who like her daughter ended up in prison, she can be seen hitting and slapping them.
From a young age, Ahed became aware of the occupation of the Palestinian territories. She grew up accompanying her father, a leading activist in her community, to weekly demonstrations against the occupation. Protests often led to violent clashes with Israeli forces and settlers. In one of those demonstrations one of her uncles lost his life from a gunshot to the back. Her father was in prison several times and since his arrest on October 20, 2023, the family has not heard from him.
On this occasion, the activist has been arrested for “suspicions of inciting violence and terrorist activities.” More specifically, her arrest responds to a publication in which the young woman promised to “massacre” the Israelis “in all the cities of the West Bank, from Hebron to Jenin,” making references to Hitler, according to a screenshot of a publication sent by the army to the AFP news agency. However, the account that appears in the screenshot has been inaccessible since Monday, and the AFP has not been able to confirm whether the account belongs to the activist.
Narimane Tamimi, Ahed's mother, assured that her daughter was not the author of that text and that "there are dozens of pages in Ahed's name and with her photo, but with which she has no relationship... When Ahed tries to open a account on social networks, is immediately blocked.” The mother also reported that her home had been searched and all of her family members' phones had been confiscated by Israeli authorities.
