Tali Fahima - Biography

Tali Fahima (born 1976) is an Israeli woman, who was convicted for her contacts with Zakaria Zubeidi, Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. She describes her nationality as Palestinian.

She grew up in a single parent family of Moroccan Jewish descent in Qiryat Gat, a town in the south of Israel. Until 2003 she was a Likud supporter; she then read an interview in which Zubeidi described his transformation from peace activist to wanted terrorist; intrigued, she found Zubeidi's phone number, and spoke with him several times. When she learned that Zubeidi was at the top of Israel's list of intended assassinations, she decided to travel to Jenin and live in his home as a human shield. She became involved in the Palestinian children's project in Jenin which featured in the film Arna's Children, along with Zubeidi before his imprisonment. She does not deny that she later met Zubeidi in Jenin a number of times, but she denies any involvement in armed activities. In March 2004 she stated that she was prepared to act as a human shield to protect Zubeidi. Both she and Zubeidi deny the allegation that they had a romantic relationship.

On 23 December 2005 she pleaded guilty to some less serious charges (including: translating a top secret Israeli military document for Zubeidi) in a plea bargain which would have led to her early release. However, on 13 September 2006, the Parole Board ruled that she would not be released early, since she "acted in an insolent and rude manner toward prison guards."[1]

Tali Fahima was released in January 2007, a year earlier than her original sentence, for good conduct. Still, she is banned from leaving the country, contacting foreign agents or entering the Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank[2] - limitations similar to those imposed on Mordechai Vanunu after his own release from prison.

On April 23, 2007, she participated in an alternative torch-lighting ceremony for Israeli Independence Day, where she lit a torch in honor of Zubeidi.

In June 2008, Zubaidi, confined to Jenin in an amnesty agreement requested permission to travel to Ramallah for an eye operation. Tali Fahima thereupon attacked him as a "whore of the Shin Bet security service."

Nowadays, Tali lives in the Arab village Ar'ara in northern Israel, and works as a Hebrew teacher. In June 2010, she converted to Islam at a mosque in Umm al-Fahm.

External links

• "The lone warrior", The Guardian, August 12, 2005
• "Israel jails Jewish woman for meeting Palestinian militant", The Guardian
• article on her release from Ha'aretz
• interview in The Guardian following her release
• Leftist Tali Fahima converts to Islam in Yedioth Ahronoth
• "Interview with Tali Fahima" from Oznik
• Tali Fahima's video blog on Flix, Tapuz
• "Mizrahi Woman, Palestinian Fighter: The Public Discourse Surrounding the Struggle of Tali Fahima." MA Tesis on "Kedma".