‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism,’ Says Palestinian Activist Hailed in Mainstream Media Reports As ‘Hero’

‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism,’ Says Palestinian Activist Hailed in Mainstream Media Reports As ‘Hero’ 

When Israel arrested 24-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi for inciting terrorism in 2023, mainstream media outlets described her as a modern-day Gandhi. The New York Times hailed Tamimi as an "international symbol of Palestinian resistance." Reuters claimed her protests of "Israeli land seizures" had made her "a hero since she was a teenager." Even before her arrest, CNN called her a "fearless teen" who suffered the horrors of "living under Israeli military occupation."

What those outlets have not reported, among other things, is Tamimi’s praise for Adolf Hitler, promises to drink the blood of Jews, and declarations that she is "fighting the Jews, not Zionism."

Tamimi, who rose to prominence at 16 years old for slapping an Israeli soldier on camera, has received praise as a "superstar in the campaign against Israeli occupation," as the Associated Press described her. Her comments on an Arabic-language podcast earlier this month, though, reveal a different motivation.

"My definition of Judaism, ever since I was a child, has been that it is the same as Zionism," Tamimi said during an Aug. 8 appearance on the Enlightenment Podcast. "If a Jew does not want his religion to be defined this way, he can join me in the struggle against Zionism."

Given Tamimi’s own words, though, that may be a tough needle to thread.

"Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism [should] 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 continued.

Tamimi said the Western media outlets portraying her as a hero should "shut up" and listen to the "superior" Palestinians rather than present their own accounts.

"Western media—or any media in the world—should not come and present its views," she said, according to a translation from the Middle East Media Research Institute. "No! The whole world needs to shut up when a Palestinian is talking. 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."