The Palestinian teenager released from prison by Israel on Sunday after completing a sentence for kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier called for Palestinians to continue their struggle against the occupation of the West Bank.
Ahed Tamimi, 17, became a heroine to Palestinians after the incident last December outside her home in Nabi Saleh, a village which has campaigned for years against land seizures by Israel, leading to confrontations with Israel’s military and Jewish settlers.
Ahed Tamimi is free. Her words: "The resistance continues until the occupation is removed" prove her spirit is unbroken✊? pic.twitter.com/gBkMooMy8v
— Liam Young (@liamyoung) July 29, 2018
Israelis saw the incident, which Tamimi’s mother relayed live on Facebook, as a staged provocation.
Tamimi, who was 16 at the time of her detention, faced 12 charges, including aggravated assault. In March, she pleaded guilty to a reduced charge sheet that included assault and was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, dating back to her arrest in December.
Ahed Tamimi offered this statement from her home in Nabi Saleh after her release from Israeli prison today: "From our home, the resistance is continuing until the end of the occupation. I thank everyone who supported me during my arrest." https://t.co/jzHXYAcbRf pic.twitter.com/I52V0MXcu1
— The IMEU (@theIMEU) July 29, 2018
Wearing her trademark black-and-white kuffiah, Tamimi greeted dozens of well-wishers in brief remarks outside the home of a Nabi Saleh villager killed by Israeli forces.
She told reporters:
“From this martyr’s house, I say: resistance is continuing until the occupation is removed.”
Ahed Tamimi finally released from prison after 8 months. She was arrested for simply defending her home from invading soldiers
There is no freedom or justice under occupation, but there is a lot of resiliency and resistance that manifests in many forms https://t.co/zmgmviLGLb
— Remi Kanazi (@Remroum) July 29, 2018
She added:
“All the female prisoners in jail are strong, and I thank everyone who stood by me while I was in prison.”
'The messages I am leaving with the prisoners with are that the popular struggle against the occupation will continue,' Tamimi said, after being releasedhttps://t.co/9Rs7YqSqZH
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) July 29, 2018
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a statement published by the official news agency Wafa after he met Tamimi and her mother, described the teenager as:
“A model of peaceful civil resistance…, proving to the world that our Palestinian people will stand firm and constant on their land, no matter what the sacrifice.”
Palestinians want the West Bank for a future state, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Most countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, something Israel disputes.
Ahed #Tamimi is Free But Hundreds of #Palestinian Children are Still in Israeli Prisons (VIDEOS) https://t.co/aXnkmEtg2P @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/uMsFcFocDg
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 29, 2018
Tamimi’s case drew global attention and Amnesty International said after her conviction that her sentence was at odds with international law, saying imprisonment of a minor must be used only as a last resort for the shortest appropriate period of time.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
