Palestinian teen jailed for 8 months
Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi has been sentenced to eight months in prison for slapping and kicking a pair of Israeli soldiers outside her West Bank home, capping a case that sparked uproar in Israel, turned the 17-year-old girl into a Palestinian hero and attracted international attention.
Tamimi’s Israeli lawyer, Gaby Lasky, said Tamimi agreed to the sentence as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that allowed her to avoid more serious charges that could have imprisoned her for years. She is also being fined the equivalent of about US$1400 ($1930).
Lasky called the legal proceedings a “farce”. She said “they are trying to deter other Palestinian youth from resisting occupation as Ahed did”.
The judge agreed to a similar plea deal for Tamimi’s mother Nariman, who has been charged with incitement.
“This is injustice, this court is designed to oppress the Palestinians,” Ahed’s father, Bassem, said. He said they agreed to the deal because they had been threatened with three years in jail.
Bassem had visited his daughter and wife for the first time in prison the day before. He said Ahed spends her time doing school work.
An Israeli supporter of Tamimi slapped a prosecutor after the ruling and was later arrested by police.
Tamimi was arrested in December after video surfaced of her kicking the soldiers outside her home. — AP