Last week, 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi was indicted with 12 charges after a video of the Palestinian teenager hitting an Isreali soldier went viral. The video, which has been viewed thousands of times by people around the globe, depicts Tamimi lashing out at the guard in an attempt to get him to leave her property. Since her mother, Nariman Tamimi, posted the footage, Tamimi has been both applauded and criticized on either side of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Tamimi’s actions were about more than a property dispute; her outburst came moments after Israeli guards shot her cousin in the head with a rubber bullet. The 15-year-old, who was shot point-blank in the face, had to be put in a medically-induced coma as a result.
Proponents of the Palestinian cause have hailed Tamimi as a figure of the resistance, an image made all the more powerful both by Tamimi’s age and her history of altercation. When she was 11, Tamimi was also filmed shaking her fists at Israeli soldiers as they arrested her older brother. Three years later, when her younger brother was arrested, she was filmed once again biting and slapping the soldier who arrested him. Her legacy of confidence throughout the years marks her recent acts as an inextricable component of her character, which is why she has become so revered amongst her peers.
Proponents of the Israeli cause view Tamimi in a less favorable light. In their view, the Israeli soldier that Tamimi lashed out at in the most recent video was within his rights in being posted on her property. Thus, attempting to assault the officer in question was uncalled for and inexcusable, as it was a deliberate assault against Israeli authority. The rights of the soldier who shot her cousin, on the other hand, are up for debate on both sides of the conflict— the man has faced both support and condemnation.
After being charged last weekend, Tamimi faces a maximum sentence of 14 years. However, her lawyer, Gaby Lasky, seems to view the case optimistically— after the charges were set, she said that the sentencing for Tamimi’s offenses is usually “much, much lighter.” Such a statement is certainly sanguine, especially in the face of the Israeli conviction rate of nearly 100%.
What has caused Tamimi to become so famous for an act committed by countless Palestinians since Israeli occupation began? Lasky and journalist Ben Ehrenreich point to two factors: the advent of the Internet and Tamimi’s almost American appearance. Tamimi, who has curly blonde hair and green eyes, doesn’t fit the physical profile of a typical Palestinian. In fact, her features are shared with the stereotypical (though by no means all-encompassing) image one of Israel’s allies: the United States. Ehrenreich, in an interview with The Atlantic, states that part of Tamimi’s fame comes with her incompatibility with the Palestinian profile of the demonized “other” created by Israel. He says that, when the profile doesn’t fit, “then suddenly all that work of dehumanization can’t function, and she can’t be ‘othered’ in the same way. And then people freak out.”
Lasky attributes her client’s fame to the presence of the camera. The Internet has allowed the video to be seen by not only the major players in the conflict, but each side’s supporters across the globe. Thus, the footage can be read very differently by those with opposing views, sparking a global debate.
Ultimately, Ahed Tamimi and her history of activism can be viewed from numerous vantage points, a fact which speaks to the global nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. As the Internet makes the world smaller, it’s easier than ever to have opinions about such geographically distant events. Whether you support Tamimi in her defiance or not, one thing is certain; she has become a rallying point for Palestinians, and her name isn’t likely to disappear from the news anytime soon.
