#Malala Vs # Ahed Tamimi
By: Mudasir Ahmd Gori
The entire world knows much about the Nobel Peace prize winner Malala Yousuf Zai but little do they know about Ahed Tamimi. The simple reason is that the west has praised the much hyped Malala and ignored the much admired Ahed Tamimi.
Ahed, a 16 year old Palestinian girl who was arrested during a nocturnal raid has faces the charge of having assaulted an Israeli officer. The episode took place a day before her arrest when Israeli soldiers thronged into their backyard after Tamimi’s cousin was shot by a solider with a rubber bullet in addition to firing tear gas canister directly into their house. Tamimi along with her mother and cousin were later arrested and are still languishing in detention.
There seems to be no support coming from the so called western feminists for Ahad Tamimi, unlike the support that flows for Malala ever since the unfortunate event when she was hit by a bullet. Human Rights commission and other origination too seem deaf to her wailings and are not concerned or worried about Tamimi as the tall claims of equal rights for all people is just a bogus statement with the western political elites who are terribly selective in declaring events as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Ahed has also a legacy of standing against injustice.
If we look at the episode when Pakistani activist Malala Yousuf Zia was shot in the head, the response was starkly different. Let’s not forget the petition issued by a former Prime Minister of United Kingdom claiming “# IamMalala” or “Stand for Malala” But strangely enough we see no reaction from him when it comes to this young brave heart who stands against a very well defined occupation and is punished brutally keeping all the charters of human rights at bay.
We know Malala was invited at UN General Assembly too. She was made to meet Barak Obama, Ban Ki Moon and other eminent world leaders. Needless to say that she received many honors in addition to Nobel Prize which she shared with Kalash Satyarthi- a child right activist from India. She is believed to be representative of Henry Clinton. There is even Malala Day, more so she was nominated top most influential personality of the year by Time Magazine.
However, unfortunately there is no Ahed Day. Tamima is not nominated by any magazine, while the brazen reality is that she has equally fought for the rights of her people. There is hardly any campaign like #Iam Ahed or #Stand for Ahed. In fact no feminist group has come to support her, no right group or political activist has raised voice against the atrocities that Ahed is subjected to. She was denied even visa. It must be noted here that she has a history of standing against the Israeli occupation. She has fought against the illegal control of her counties waters and land by Israeali authorities. Her family members have been sent to jail time and again, her mother has been injured with a bullet.
The point that strikes me is why Ahed’s outcry is not as appealing as Malala’s for Human Rights Organization and other Feminist groups? How is she different from Malala, if we believe that Malala stood for the substantial cause, how can a cause be valid in one circumstance while invalid in another? Why is there a cold response about Ahed from these so called organizations?
Maybe it is because the violence inflicted on Palestinians is considered legitimate while as other such violators like Boko Harm and Taliban are simply ‘terrorists’. The basic amenities have been snatched from Palestinian people, while this is being justified by the colonizers by saying that the subjects of Palestine state are a threat to the functioning of the state.
It seems Israeli Police is following the same strategy in connection with Ahed Tamimi. They have deliberately prolonged her detention because they are apprehensive that she poses a danger to the functioning of the state. How unfortunate that fighting for our right in these colonized countries as termed as extremism or the highest level radicalism. The Israeli officials wish that Ahed along with her family should spend their lives in prison only. However let’s not forget that “If winter comes can spring be far behind”\
