'We are fighting the Jews': Ahed Tamimi says distinction between Jews and Zionism hard to maintain
Portraying the conflict as a cosmic battle against the alleged evil of Zionism, activist says she "wishes for World War III"; adds she's not antisemitic, has nothing against Jews who join her struggle
Appearing on a YouTube show earlier this month, Palestinian icon Ahed Tamimi said that she was raised to fight and resist the Jews, not "Zionism," and that in the context of the Palestinian struggle the distinction is one without meaning. The activist added she doesn't believe this makes her antisemitic as she harbored no ill will against the religion of Judaism, merely against the "inhumanity" embodied by the Israelis.
Tamimi appeared on “The Enlightenment Podcast,” speaking in Arabic. Her comments were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“I was raised [to believe] that Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism be presented to the children of Palestine – children of my age and younger – as occupation, and that we are fighting the Jews, not Zionism,”
She then clarified that she will continue to associate Judaism with Zionism—a malevolent and inhumane force, in her understanding—unless or until Jews rise up against Zionism and fight alongside her.
“The whole world needs to shut up, when a Palestinian is talking,” she went on to say. “We are superior to the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the expense of our lives, and the expense of our humanity.”
She suggested that for her the conflict was something far vaster than a local dispute over territory between two national groups with conflicting claims.
“I have reached a point where I wish for a World War III. Whoever dies, dies, and whoever lives, lives. The important thing is that we will be over with this. I have reached this point. Let the whole world be destroyed, I don’t care. Let them drop nuclear bombs, and destroy the whole world, so it won’t be just the Palestinians.”
Now aged 24, Tamimi shot to international prominence as the face of Palestinian resistance in 2017 when she charged with assaulting Israeli security forces after a video went viral showing her slapping Israeli soldiers near her home in the village of Nabi Saleh in an apparent attempt to provoke them.