Imalah

“N, still new to me, coming inside and sitting down, me thinking that we would have sex and he would leave and it would be whatever, but instead we kissed a little bit and then started talking and I heard myself telling him, in an unvarnished tone, things I usually conceal very carefully. I heard him telling me things men don’t often speak of, things people don’t usually tell each other. We talked about fear and feelings and alienation and pain, and we did not have sex, and when he left I felt closer to him than I ever had to anyone whose body I had shared.”
― Margo Steines, Brutalities: A Love Story

“Janna always says that her camera is her gun. And truly, what she’s able to shoot with it is far more powerful than any weapon.”
― Ahed Tamimi, They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom

“We’re not citizens of Israel; nor do we have a say or any political rights in the state that controls every aspect of our lives. We’re stuck with the inability to plan for our futures, to travel freely, or even to move about our territories from city to city without having to cross military checkpoints. We need permission to build our homes, to travel, to work—all the basic rights and freedoms you might take for granted living in a civil society simply don’t exist when you’re living under military occupation. It’s not an easy life, and yet, it’s the only one I’ve ever known.”
― Ahed Tamimi, They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom

“Growing up, I’d heard that Israel’s founders said of the Palestinians they forced from their homes to create their state, “The old will die and the young will forget.” But my generation is living proof of the contrary. The resistance of our grandparents lives on through us, and in truth, we perhaps have even more patriotism and energy than our elders.”
― Ahed Tamimi, They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom