Ahed Tamimi

Ahed Tamimi (عهد التميمي, also romanized Ahd; born 31 January 2001) is a Palestinian activist from the village of Nabi Salih in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Best known for appearances in photos and videos in which she confronts Israeli soldiers, she has been hailed by pro-Palestinian activists as a symbol of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Her memoir They Called Me a Lioness was published in 2022.

Ahed Tamimi was born on 31 January 2001 in Nabi Salih, a small village in the West Bank in the Palestinian territories.

Her father is activist Bassem Tamimi.

According to a The Guardian journalist, he and his children "have known only a life of checkpoints, identity papers, detentions, house demolitions, intimidation, humiliation and violence. This is their normality."

Ahed's father is a cousin of Ahlam Tamimi, known for assisting in carrying out the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 2001.

According to Bassem, Tamimi is subjected to threats from Israeli forces when she is recognised.

To protect her from harassment, her parents relocated her to a relative's home in Ramallah so she did not have to pass through Israeli checkpoints to continue her secondary education.

By Bassem's estimate, the family home, which had been slated for demolition in 2010 just prior to the village's adoption of its weekly protests, has been subjected to 150 military raids as of September 2017.

The family's friend, the Jewish-American Israeli Alison Avigayil Ramer, has written of the history of persistent harassment both Ahed and her family have been subjected to for what, in her view, is a style of Gandhian pacifism.

Tamimi has been involved in protests and political agitation expressing her opposition to the expansion of Israeli settlements and detention of Palestinians.

She has argued that documented, organized protests against the Israeli occupation will lead to wider recognition of the Palestinian struggle for autonomy; her viral images and videos have produced a wave of public reactions in Israel and Palestine, as well as internationally.

At 11 years old, Tamimi was commended by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for attempting to intervene during her mother's arrest in August 2012.

When an Israeli soldier arrested her older brother in 2012, Tamini was mentioned in the international media.

The image of her waving a fist while confronting him went viral on social media, and she was invited to Turkey by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Three years later she gained attention after she was seen biting and hitting a masked Israeli soldier in the process of taking her younger brother away because he was throwing stones.

In December 2016, the United States denied Tamimi a visa to participate in a speaking tour titled "No Child Behind Bars/Living Resistance".

In December 2017, Tamimi was detained by Israeli authorities for slapping a soldier, which was filmed and went viral, attracting international interest and debate.

On 15 December 2017, Tamimi took part in a demonstration in Nabi Salih opposing the expansion of Israeli settlements near her village.

The 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.

According to the Tamimi family, during the protest, Ahed's 15-year-old cousin Mohammed Tamimi was shot in the head at close range with a rubber-coated steel bullet, severely wounding him.

In response, Tamimi, along with her mother and cousin Nour, approached the two soldiers outside their home, and were filmed slapping, kicking, and shoving them; the soldiers did not retaliate.

Mohammed Tamimi was put in a medically induced coma to treat his head injury and regained consciousness a few days later.

Footage of the slapping incident was uploaded to her mother Nariman Tamimi's Facebook page and went viral.

Days later, on 19 December Tamimi was arrested in a nighttime raid.

Despite concerns about 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.

Nariman Tamimi was also charged with incitement and assault after posting a video in which the indictment claims Tamimi urged violent attacks against Israel.

The case drew global attention and spurred debate over the soldiers' restraint in Palestinian and Israeli societies.

Rallies in support of Tamimi took place in North America and Europe.

As part of the agreement, she pleaded guilty to one count of assault, one count of incitement, and two counts—‌unrelated to the December 2017 incident—‌of obstructing soldiers.

While in prison, Tamimi earned her high school degree; she was released on 29 July, resolving to study law and "hold the occupation accountable."

A mural of Tamimi on the Separation Wall was completed by two Italian artists—including Jorit Agoch—as an act of homage to coincide with her release.

Both artists were arrested and forced to leave Israel.

On 6 November 2023 Tamimi was arrested by IDF soldiers in Nabi Salih on "suspicion of inciting violence and terrorist activities", her house was searched and the family's mobile phones were confiscated.

The arrest followed Israeli media reports of a post on Instagram purported to belong to her that called for a violent massacre of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, referencing Adolf Hitler.

Tamimi was sentenced to eight months in prison after agreeing to a plea bargain and released on 29 July 2018.

After her father was arrested and placed under administrative detention during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, she too was arrested again in November, in connection to an Instagram post allegedly belonging to her that called for a massacre of Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

She was released on November 29, as part of an exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.

On 24 March 2018, Tamimi agreed to a plea bargain with prosecutors whereby she would serve eight months in prison and pay a 5,000-shekel ($1,437) fine.