Just a week before the prominent Palestinian activist leader Bassem al-Tamimi embarks on a month-long
speaking tour in the U.S., he and his family attracted massive media attention when a clip of one of the clashes they provoked
with the IDF went viral.

The Tamimis are used to sympathetic media coverage, including a fawning
New York Times Magazine cover story in March 2013 on
the family's ambition to start a "Third Intifada".
Bassem Tamimi is usually
presented as an admirable organizer of “nonviolent resistance” who can count on the support of Amnesty International and who has been praised as a “human rights defender” by the European Union. By contrast, Bassem Tamimi’s views on the “right to resist” that he often invokes and the use of his children in his activism – including regular efforts to challenge the IDF into responding to provocations like rock-throwing – have so far largely escaped scrutiny.
Yet, just a few hours of research reveal many easily discoverable cracks in the carefully cultivated image of the Tamimis as peaceful activists and “non-violent” protesters.
Use of Children to Confront Soldiers as Cameras Roll
The Tamimis are best known for the
2012 video of daughter Ahed confronting Israeli soldiers for the cameras: