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A review by tracey1981
They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom by Dena Takruri, Ahed Tamimi
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I highly recommend this memoir of a young woman arrested as a teen for confronting Israeli soldiers during incessant raids on her home and small Palestinian community. This is a timely, inspiring, and infuriating read. The author provides good historical background on the occupation of Palestine as well as the author’s path to becoming a freedom fighter as a child, her experience in prison, etc.
I was reminded, while reading this, of the power of social media in some situations. Tamimi’s story and others that she referenced became well-known because young people broadcast videos of their day-to-day realities in Palestine to the world. I tend to think of it pretty negatively in recent years so it was helpful to be reminded of the benefits.
Perhaps the saddest thing about Tamimi’s story is how unexceptional it is. Many of the girls she was in prison with had much longer sentences than she did - sometimes several years. The idea of child political prisoners is absolutely appalling to me.
I was also very aware as I was reading this, of the settler colonial parallels in Canada and my own complicity as a settler on these lands where the treaties are not well-respected, where Indigenous people have been and continue to experience systemic oppression, where white supremacy reigns. We have much work to do here, too, to achieve justice.
I was reminded, while reading this, of the power of social media in some situations. Tamimi’s story and others that she referenced became well-known because young people broadcast videos of their day-to-day realities in Palestine to the world. I tend to think of it pretty negatively in recent years so it was helpful to be reminded of the benefits.
Perhaps the saddest thing about Tamimi’s story is how unexceptional it is. Many of the girls she was in prison with had much longer sentences than she did - sometimes several years. The idea of child political prisoners is absolutely appalling to me.
I was also very aware as I was reading this, of the settler colonial parallels in Canada and my own complicity as a settler on these lands where the treaties are not well-respected, where Indigenous people have been and continue to experience systemic oppression, where white supremacy reigns. We have much work to do here, too, to achieve justice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War