JERUSALEM – A 17-year-old girl who slapped an Israeli soldier in the West Bank was released yesterday after eight months in prison.
Ahed Tamini was arrested after slapping and kicking an Israeli soldier outside her home in Nabi Saleh in the West Bank.
She had become a symbol of resistance against Israel for the Palestinian people. Back home, the girl declared: “My resistance continues until the occupation ends”.
This is the moment #AhedTamimi walked free.
But hundreds of Palestinian children remain in prison, despite many having committed no recognizable crime. #Israel must stop its discriminatory policies against Palestinian children. pic.twitter.com/xBlDXcAeFZ
— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) July 29, 2018
In a preliminary hearing, Ahmed Tamimi had explained that she had attacked the Israeli soldiers because, on the same day, she had seen one of them shoot her 15-year-old cousin in the head with a rubber bullet.
Many Israelis say the girl’s image has been exploited by her family and the Palestinians. Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Ahed and her cousin Nour, involved in the clashes, “deserved to be imprisoned for life”.
On the first morning home, Ahed Tamimi’s friends brought her a cake that says “Palestine’s icon” pic.twitter.com/09QjL1U0si
— Dena Takruri (@Dena) July 30, 2018
For the Palestinians Ahed Tamini has become a symbol of courage and opposition to the Israeli occupation. The Israeli police also arrested and then released two Italian street artists, after they had painted the face of Ahed Tamini on the wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem.
Ahed Al-Tamimi: Chile concerned over Israeli incarceration of teen Palestinian activist
