Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi talked about her time in detention after being released from Israeli prison, during an interview in Nabi Salih on Wednesday.
“These months, of course, were difficult, there were different periods. It was terrible being far from my family, relatives and close ones. The situation was very hard not only in my region but all across Palestine.”
“It was not the first time when I, as any other Palestinian, awaited to be arrested. I expected that something like this could happen. I knew that I could be arrested. It happened because we are constantly living under Israeli fire. Especially if you take into account that this particular soldier opened fire at my cousin who was wounded in the face and nearly died. This soldier was near my house and was shooting at teenagers. Because of this soldier I lost my freedom. In addition to that, new pressures emerged because of Trump’s statement about Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. All of these were very hard and had an impact on my reaction.” *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE* *JUMP CUT AT SOURCE*“Indeed a prison is a very difficult thing. But thank God I found myself there because of my beliefs. And I am ready to go a thousand times to prison for our deed [Palestine]. I am convinced that our business is righteous and I believe in it. It gave me strength to endure it.”
“My big dream is to liberate Palestine. I dream to implement all my goals: to learn, to get a PhD. I also dream that all detained – women and men – would be set free in the near future. I also want to say to all detained: ‘I am with you’. I want to say to my detained sisters if they see me that I love them, I miss them very much and will never forget them. I hope that in the near future I can get in touch with their parents.”
“Of course not. I do not regret what I did [punched an Israeli soldier in the face]. I did nothing bad. It was a reaction to the invaders’ presence in my land and in my home. I have repeatedly experienced harassment as a result of a violation of my rights. In my position any person would have done the same. I want to address this message to all detained men and women. It is necessary to strengthen national unity, the peoples’ persistence and to support the detained in combat for freedom.”