Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Contact
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Arab Radio Podcast intro
    • Radio Baladi Detroit
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Toggle search form
  • UN Special Committee on Israeli practices in occupied territories warns of a second Nakba  Arab World
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month Activism
  • 04-28-25 Pappas Arab Heritage Month
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recognizes Arab American Heritage Month by honoring business and community leaders American Arabs
  • Stuffed Grape Leaves. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    A recipe on how to make Stuffed Grape Leaves with lamb, ox tail and rice American Arabs
  • Andrew Boutros, interim US Attorney Northern District of Illinois. Photo courtesy of the US Attorney's Office
    Andrew S. Boutros Takes Oath of Office as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois American Arabs
  • Israeli massacres of Palestinian civilians March 18 2025
    Palestinians demand investigation of Israeli war crimes in Gaza Strip Arab World
  • Illinois Muslim Action Day April 9 2025
    Illinois Muslim Action Day Policies at April 9 Statehouse News Conference American Arabs
  • Investigation demanded in March 23 massacre of 15 first responders by Israel's military in Rafah
    Investigation demanded into Israel slaughter of First Responder in Rafah on March 23, 2025 Arab World
  • More than a dozen candidates running for various local offices in the Chicagoland suburbs attended an Ifatr dinner Thursday, March 13, 2025 hosted by the Arab American Chamber of Commerce at the Jerusalem Banquet Hall in Bridgeview.
    Candidates promise fairness and engagement at Arab Chamber Iftar event March 13 Activism
  • Orland Fire Protection District, Fiscal Voices, receive endorsement of the Arab American Democracy Coaliton
    Independent candidates for Orland Fire receive Arab and Muslim American endorsement Activism
  • Partial Image from a video produced by the PASC called "Citizens Against Insider Politics". The video slandered Arabs and Muslims in Orland Park as being supporters of terrorism. The PAC receivced a major donation fromt he founder of Pete's Fresh Market which operate stores in two heavily populated Arab and Muslim communities, Bridgeview and Orland Park.
    CAIR-Chicago Denounces Growing Islamophobia in Southwest Suburbs, Calls for Hate Crime Investigation Activism
  • The Arab American Chamber of Commerce of Chicagoland and the Palestine Club are hosting a "Candidate's Iftar" on Thursday, March 13 beginning at 5:30 PM at Jerusalem Banquets, 8314 S. Harlem Avenue.
    Arab Chamber and Palestine Club host Candidate Iftar March 13 in Bridgeview Activism
  • Television set and remote. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
    MBC GROUP unveils MBCNOW, its brand-new groundbreaking entertainment service aggregator American Arabs
  • Mike Ghouse
    Celebration of 500th Interfaith Marriage Ceremony American Arabs
  • Orland Park activist Yousif Zegar addresses the Orland Park Village Board meeting on Feb. 5, 2024.
    All United launches to empower local community and drive political change American Arabs
Ahed Tamimi poster

Ahed Tamimi: Symbol of courage and leadership

Posted on December 21, 2017September 25, 2018 By rayhanania No Comments on Ahed Tamimi: Symbol of courage and leadership
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Ahed Tamimi: Symbol of courage and leadership

Nothing has been more inspiring than to watch 16 year old Ahed Tamimi, a young girl standing in front of her home in Nabi Saleh, confronting heavily armed Israeli soldiers mocking them with slaps and telling them to eave her family alone. Tamimi has become the face of a new Palestinian, one fearless in standing up to the brutality of the Israeli Apartheid machine

By Ray Hanania

Nothing has been more inspiring than to watch 16 year old Ahed Tamimi, a young girl standing in front of her home in Nabi Saleh, confronting heavily armed Israeli soldiers mocking them with slaps and telling them to eave her family alone.

Tamimi has become the face of a new Palestinian, one fearless in standing up to the brutality of the Israeli Apartheid machine.

A video of Ahed pushing and mocking the two heavily armed Israeli soldiers as they stood in front of their home has gone viral. More importantly it is inspiring a new movement, one that can overcome Israeli hatred, Israeli racism and Israeli atrocities against Christians and Muslims in occupied Palestine.

Poster of Palestinian hero Ahed Tamimi after she was arrested for trying to protect her family from the Israeli military.
Poster of Palestinian hero Ahed Tamimi after she was arrested for trying to protect her family from the Israeli military.

Tamimi was later arrested after the video embarrassed the Israeli government and enraged Israeli racists like Avigdore Lieberman, Naftali Bennet and virulently anti-Arab racist Ayelet Shaked have all screamed about Ahed’s courage.

Israel claims to be a “democracy” but in fact it discriminates against non-Jews denying basic civil and human rights to Christians and Muslims, except those who surrender and embrace Israel’s government’s racist ideology and policies.

Here is a letter from Ahed’a father, civil rights activist Bassem Tamimi followed by a letter from Jewish Voice for Peace Deputy Director Ari Wohlfeiler that you should read and share with others:

Palestinian Hero Ahed Tamimi, who confronted heavily armed soldiers who had shot her younger cousin, and was protesting settler terrorists who were stealing Palestinians property and lands.
Palestinian Hero Ahed Tamimi, who confronted heavily armed soldiers who had shot her younger cousin, and was protesting settler terrorists who were stealing Palestinians property and lands.

Tuesday morning at 3am, Israeli forces invaded my home and arrested my daughter.  They dragged Ahed out of bed, handcuffed her and put her in the back of their military jeep. She is 16-years-old.

The next morning, my wife went to the police station to be with our daughter as she was interrogated. But Israel took her into custody as well. The following day, they arrested my 21-year-old niece Nour.

This is too much! Israel must immediate release the Tamimi women! They must stop their persecution of my family.

All of this started with last Friday when soldiers in my village shot 15-year-old Mohammed Tamimi directly in the face with a rubber coated steel bullet. Following surgery, Mohammad had to be placed in a medically-induced coma. Then the soldiers came to our home. Ahed and Nour slapped the soldiers in the face and pushed them back, yelling that they could not enter our home.

The Israeli military is threatened by our regular protests, by our refusal to live with occupation.

Ahed appeared in court yesterday. Her detention was extended because she is refusing to talk. No cooperation with the occupation! Nour and my wife, Nariman, appeared in military court today. Their detention was also extended until at least Monday. Ahed, Nariman and Nour are being held Hasharon prison. Ahed is being held with Israeli prisoners and Nariman and Nour are being held with Palestinian prisoners. Even though Ahed is not in the same section of the prison as her mother and cousin, she is remaining strong and determined.

Tell the Israeli military to release my family and end their 50 year long occupation of our land.

Issa.jpeg

It is our responsibility to resist the soldiers who enter our village and settlers who occupy our land and resources. For our family’s work, I have been recognized by the European Union as a Human Rights Defender. At the age of 13, my daughter won the Handala award for Courage in Turkey. Amnesty International, during one of my imprisonments, declared me a prisoner of conscience. Each week, my wife helps lead our anti-occupation demonstration. Now her resistance takes place from the inside of an Israeli jail.

Tell the Israeli military to release my family and end their 50 year long occupation of our land.

People and organizations around the world from Youth Against Settlements in Palestine to Jewish Voice for Peace, CODEPINK and others in the US are supporting us. They are writing press releases, making phone calls and standing by our side.

Tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 22, 2017, at 12pm EST, (7pm Palestine time) there will be a twitter storm with the hashtag #FreeAhedTamimi. I thank everyone for their support and hope my family will be free soon.

Jewish Voice for Peace statement

It’s getting so I’m afraid to check my news feed. I don’t want to see Israeli forces dragging away another young child to military detention— the casual frequency of these arrests is sickening, every time.

But this is the reality of Israeli occupation.

Many of us saw the images of young Ahed Tamimi being taken away by Israeli occupation forces Tuesday morning. Ahed is a high school student who has grown up under occupation in the small town of Nabi Saleh, known for its weekly nonviolent marches against occupation and settler encroachment.

Please take a minute to thank Representative Bobby Rush for co-sponsoring H.R. 4391 and trying to end the military detention of children.

What would I do if I was Ahed? I hope the same thing she and her family do each week: stand up for my loved ones, my community, and my rights.

The news didn’t show that Ahed’s cousin was in a coma after being shot in the head by a rubber-tipped steel bullet.  Or that there’s a new bullet hole in my family’s window. Or that Ahed’s father, mother, and cousin are all under arrest.

Instead, the Israeli press is trying to make her out as the villain for kicking at and pushing full-grown soldiers with guns and helmets.

What can we do? What can regular, caring people in the U.S. do?

For one, you can thank Representative Bobby Rush for co-sponsoring H.R. 4391 and trying to end the military detention of children— and ask them to speak out specifically on this latest outrage.

Because what Ahed and her family are going through isn’t unique— it’s systemic. The Israeli government seems to be targeting children with a special intensity. Our allies at Defense for Children International – Palestine document that around 700 Palestinian children are arrested and held each year,  and many charged without a parent or guardian present.

Just recently, 16-year-old Fawzi Al-Junaidi was beaten and arrested during a protest in Hebron over Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and 17-year-old Abdul-Khalik Burnat of Bil’in was beaten and arrested (for the third time this year) while getting pizza with friends.

This is all illegal under international law, but the Israeli government is getting away with it. 

And what are these children’s crimes? Being Palestinian. Under occupation, that’s more than enough.

Take a moment and stand with the children of Palestine, because when we support children, we’re supporting communities and their futures.

You can also share this image:

And you can be one of the people who said no, this is wrong, this can’t go on.

Thank you.

Ari Wohlfeiler, Deputy Director of Jewish Voice for Peace

 

newswire info
  • About
  • Latest Posts
rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Follow RayHanania at Twitter
rayhanania
Latest posts by rayhanania (see all)
  • Israelisnipers shooting and killing hospital workers in Gaza - December 11, 2023
  • CAIR Condemns Israeli Executions of Wounded, Unarmed Palestinian in West Bank   - December 11, 2023
  • Arab and Muslim American voters face a “simple choice” between Biden’s inhumanity and Trump’s edgy politics - December 9, 2023

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
Arab World, Bloggers, Commentary, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine & Jordan, racism Tags:Ahed Tamimi, Bassem Tamimi, Israel apartheid, Israel racism, Israeli brutality, Israeli discrimination, Nabi Saleh, Occupied Jerusalem, oppression, Palestine, Palestinian rights, West Bank

Post navigation

Previous Post: Christmas Message To Mr. Trump From a Palestinian Christian and a USA Citizen of Conscience
Next Post: Confronting Iran cornerstone to confronting extremism

Related Posts

  • Mishmeshan PHC medical center destroyed in Syrian Government assaults. Photo courtesy of UOSSM Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations
    Hundreds killed as Syrian government targets medical centers Arab World
  • Palestinian Author Hala Alyan, "Salt Houses" 2017
    Salt Houses, new book on Palestinian experience American Arabs
  • Reza Aslan book promo
    Reza Aslan publishes new book on God American Arabs
  • rab American Democratic Club hosts a gathering of elected officials and journalists looking at the recent elections, celebrating Ramadan and Arab American Heritage month (April.)
    Arab American Heritage Month, Ramadan feted by Journalists and elected officials American Arabs
  • Reddit Logo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Reddit criticized as an anti-Arab, anti-Muslim racist social media Bloggers
  • OECD holds FIFA responsible for Qatari World Cup-related labour conditions Arab World

More Related Articles

Christian religious presence imposes itself in Jerusalem despite pressures from all sides. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania يجب على العرب أن يوقفوا التواصل بإسرائيل حتى تعترف بفلسطين Arab News
Christian Arab, Chaldean Arabian omelettes Arab World
Story by the Arab News on a poll it commissioned with YouGov.com on American perceptions of the Middle East. http://www.arabnews.com/node/1093246/middle-east Arab News & YouGov expose US ignorance of Middle East American Arabs
Video: Kansas City Chiefs Abdullah penalized for being Muslim American Arabs
head shot Waves Burst from Time to Time Abdennour Toumi
Let’s Kill The Demons Of Geography & Politics Bloggers

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Ray Hanania's 4 times a week columns at https://RayHanania.com at Substack

Enter Your Email to Subscribe to Ray Hanania’s Columns

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Photo courtesy of Journalist Abdennour Toumi
    France: Political Compromise vs Political Instability
    August 28, 2024
  • Zakia Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia
    Arabs eat Middle East food like they are making love
    June 27, 2024
  • Zwar lamb kabob and kufta with white and yellow rice
    Zwar ranked the Best Middle East restaurant in Chicagoland suburbs
    June 8, 2024
  • Pictured: Rahm Emanuel, Afghan activist Salman Aftab who was co-chair of the Iftar dinner, and several non-Arab Muslim leaders. Also pictured is Ald. Joe Moore. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania for Arab News
    Comprehensive look at the failings of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
    January 18, 2024
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month
    April 29, 2025
  • 04-28-25 Pappas Arab Heritage Month
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recognizes Arab American Heritage Month by honoring business and community leaders
    April 27, 2025
  • Mike Ghouse
    Celebration of 500th Interfaith Marriage Ceremony
    February 14, 2025
  • Arab American Democracy Coalition logo 2025
    AADC to host annual candidates’ Forum & Brunch Sunday at Nikos in Bridgeview
    February 11, 2025

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • NEWS
  • UN Special Committee on Israeli practices in occupied territories warns of a second Nakba 
    May 9, 2025
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month
    April 29, 2025
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Faisal Abbas Book Anecdotes
    Book Review: Arab author shares his anecdotes living in the United Kingdom
    October 22, 2024
  • Columnist Ray Hanania at the ADC Convention in Dearborn with the author Susan Abulhawa
    Book Review: Mornings in Jenin bySusan Abulhawa
    September 14, 2024
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Television set and remote. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
    MBC GROUP unveils MBCNOW, its brand-new groundbreaking entertainment service aggregator
    February 24, 2025
  • ArabCon 2024 Gala Program features Dr. Cornel West, Macklemore, and more
    September 6, 2024
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at
Twitter
Facebook
TitkTok
BlueSky
RayHanania Columns

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2025 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme