Last Thursday, NGOs from across South Lebanon gathered to promote and raise awareness of children’s rights, specifically in support of the Palestinian human rights icon, Ahed Tamimi. The event brought together hundreds of children along with NGO workers and representatives at Al-Quds Youth Centre in Rashidieh Refugee Camp in a display of Palestinian heritage and culture, as well as solidarity with the 17 year old girl being held in an Israeli jail.

Children as young as five prepared a range of cultural performances, including poetry, traditional Palestinian dances and written word pieces in solidarity with Tamimi. The young Palestinian activist has become a role model to thousands of people across the world, particularly women and children, after showing strength and resilience in the face of oppression when she was arrested for confronting and slapping an Israeli occupation soldier.

The highlight of the event was an inspirational Skype conversation with Ahed’s younger brother Muhammed and her cousin, Janna “Jihad” Ayyad, acknowledged as one of the world’s youngest journalists. Janna and Muhammed spoke to the audience about how they live in a country where peace is longed for desperately, because they have never witnessed it in their lifetimes. Human rights and the rights of children were among the main topics of their speech. Janna thanked all the Palestinian children in Lebanon for their support whilst assuring everyone that Israel will never dim their determination or their hope for a better future.

Read: Video shows interrogation of Ahed Tamimi without a lawyer

The NGOs were joined by human rights activist Nadia Meer, head of the South African charity Shamsaan, who organised the event to highlight the importance of children’s rights and to celebrate the bravery shown by Palestinian children. Meer invited Ahed and Janna to South Africa in July last year for a cultural exchange tour, PalS4Peace, where they helped to highlight the plight of Palestinian children who suffer daily at the hands of the occupying forces across Palestine.

Ahed Tamimi has been hailed as a modern day Rosa Parks for her unwavering bravery in the face of the oppression of Israel’s military occupation. Her defiance despite daily injustices led to her being put on trial and imprisoned for “assault”. The irony of this sparked an international outcry, and the NGO programme in Rashidieh mirrored similar events around the world standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine.