Palestinian protest icon Ahed Tamimi, 17, yesterday returned home to a hero’s welcome in her West Bank village after Israel released her from prison at the end of her eight-month sentence for slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers.
Tamimi and her mother, Nariman, were greeted with banners, cheers and Palestinian flags as they entered Nabi Saleh.
Ahed was arrested in December last year after she slapped two Israeli soldiers outside her family home.
Photo: Reuters
Her mother filmed the incident and posted it on Facebook, where it went viral and, for many, instantly turned Ahed into a symbol of resistance to Israel’s half-century-old military rule over the Palestinians.
With her unruly mop of curly light-colored hair, Tamimi quickly became an icon and an internationally recognizable figure.
However, in Israel she is seen by many as either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military’s deterrence policy.
In Nabi Saleh, supporters welcomed Tamimi home with Palestinian flags planted on the roof of her home. Hundreds of chairs were set up for well-wishers in the courtyard.
“The resistance continues until the occupation is removed,” Ahed said upon her return. “All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case.”
From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.
Her father Bassem said that he expects her to take a lead in the struggle against Israeli occupation, but she is also weighing college options.
Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 in custody. Her case has trained a spotlight on the detention of Palestinian minors by Israel, a practice that has been criticized by international rights groups.
About 300 minors are currently being held, according to Palestinian figures.
In related news, Israeli forces on Saturday arrested two Italians and a Palestinian for drawing a 4m mural of Ahed on the separation wall in the occupied West Bank, police said.
Border police arrested the trio “on suspicion of damaging and vandalizing the security fence in the Bethlehem area,” a statement said.
The three, whose faces were masked, “illegally drew on the wall, and when border policemen took action to arrest them, they tried to escape in their car, which was stopped by the forces,” the statement said.
On Wednesday, a man drawing the mural had identified himself as Italian street artist Jorit Agoch.
A message was posted to Facebook under his name saying that he had been arrested and pleading for help.
The three were yesterday morning still being held by Israeli aurhorities.
Additional reporting by AFP
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