I came across this story a few days ago and I for sure thought it was a hoax, but deeper research led me to discover that it was not. JANNA JIHAD is the first youngest journalist from PALESTINE. JANNA who is only 10 years old said that she wanted to be the first child to show real time what was going on in her city. JANNA, who has lost A few family members in the past 6 months to gun violence and war, is truly a star in our eyes.

The deaths of two men in her village – her cousin, Mustafa Tamimi and another uncle, Rushdie Tamimi – served as a trigger for her to begin documenting everything that was happening in Nabi Saleh. Mustafa was killed by a gas canister and Rushdie was fatally shot in his kidney.  And since then, Janna has expanded her work, travelling with her family and using her mother’s iPhone to shoot videos in Jerusalem, Hebron, Nablus and Jordan. Her videos show everything from people being detained at checkpoints, protest marches and violence against Palestinian children.

As a child, she feels she has an advantage over adult reporters: “The soldiers catch the big journalists and take their cameras.”

On Facebook, Janna describes herself as a news personality and has attracted more than 22,000 followers. Her page includes several videos of her participating in demonstrations and confronting Israeli soldiers. Her reports are delivered in both Arabic and English.

“My camera is my gun,” Janna explains. “The camera is stronger than the gun … I can send my message to small people, and they can send it to others.”

Her mother, Nawal Tamimi, says she is both scared for and proud of her young daughter. What a combination of emotions to face.

“I am proud of my daughter because as a child, she tells her message to the world. She shares her fears, what she feels, and the problems of attending school,” Nawal told Al Jazeera.
But I am scared for her, when the army comes in the middle of the night and tear-gases our house, and we wake up in smoke … They attack our people who demonstrate against the settlers and the Israeli occupation.”

Janna’s uncle, Bilal, says it has been hard to accept Janna’s work. “She should be playing and studying, but in our life it’s not a choice,” he told Al Jazeera, noting that the family has a history of activism dating back to 1948. “We must teach our children to not accept humiliation and not be cowards. We are under occupation. We cannot teach our children silence; they must fight for their freedom.”

When she gets older, Janna says she would like to work for CNN or Fox News because “they do not talk about Palestine, and I want to make reports on Palestine”.

Asked what an ideal world would look like to her, Janna, for once, responds like a 10-year-old: “I want it to be pink.”

Signing Off!
-Tasha Bouè