Prominent Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi says she is ‘fighting Jews, not Zionism’ after release from Israeli prison

Speaking about her detention last week, she told an Arabic podcast that, in her activism, she was “fighting Jews, not Zionism”.

“My definition of Judaism, since my childhood, was that it and Zionism are one and the same. There’s no difference between the two,” the 24-year-old said, according to a Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translation.

“I was raised to believe that Judaism is occupation. 

“Today, tomorrow and in a million years, I will continue to say that Judaism should be presented to Palestinian children – my age and younger – as occupation and that we are fighting Jews, not Zionism.”

“To this day, I continue to say that we don’t need to defend Judaism. If a Jew doesn’t want his religion defined this way [as occupation], he can join me in the fight against Zionism,” she continued.

Tamimi also expressed hope for a third world war involving nuclear arms, telling the podcast: “Let the world be destroyed, I don’t care.

“Whoever dies will die, and whoever lives will live. The most important thing is that we finish with this. 

“Let them drop nuclear bombs and destroy the world, and then it won’t be just Palestinians.”

And, regarding international media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Tamimi said: “The entire world needs to shut up when a Palestinian speaks. We are above the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the cost of our lives and humanity.

“We suffer from genocide because of your countries. So no one should say they’re helping Palestinians. You must give aid to Palestinians, and we won’t thank you."