Teen who slapped soldier will face charges
WEST BANK: A 16-year-old Palestinian girl who slapped an Israeli soldier two weeks ago will face assault charges in an Israeli military court, prosecutors said yesterday.
The December 15 incident in the occupied West Bank was captured on video and posted on the internet, attracting attention on both sides of the IsraeliPalestinian divide.
Palestinians have hailed the teenager, Ahed Tamimi, 16, as a hero. Israelis have debated whether the officer, who along with another soldier was also kicked by Tamimi, did the right thing by opting not to strike back.
The incident occurred in Nabi Saleh, a village in the West Bank, during what the Israeli army said was stone-throwing at soldiers. Weekly protests against Israeli settlement policy have been held there for years.
In the video, the curly-haired teenager is seen walking up to the two soldiers, who are standing near the entrance to her house, and can be heard telling them to leave. She then pushes and kicks both soldiers, who casually fend off the blows. She then slaps one soldier hard in the face.
The Israeli military said the officer ‘‘acted professionally’’, but right-wing Israeli politicians have described his behaviour as humiliating. Tamimi was arrested three days after video of the confrontation was broadcast on Israeli television.
At yesterday’s hearing in a military courtroom in Ofer prison near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, prosecutors said they intended to indict the teenager on charges that included aggravated assault and insulting a soldier. They asked the court to extend her detention for several days.
The Israeli army said the soldiers were in the village to con- tain a riot involving about 200 people, including the Tamimis. It said some of the rioters entered a nearby house and continued to throw rocks, before Tamimi and some women exited and started to ‘‘violently provoke’’ the soldiers.
Bassem Tamimi, Ahed’s father, said the soldiers shot a 14-year-old boy, Tamimi’s cousin, in the head with a rubber-coated metal bullet, leaving him in a medically induced coma.
Tamimi made news two years ago when she was pictured biting a soldier who tried to arrest her younger brother.
– AP, Washington Post