12 charges sought against Palestinian ‘slap video’ teenager
Accusations include assault and relate to 6 different incidents
OFER MILITARY PRISON, Palestinian Territories: Israeli authorities are seeking 12 charges against a Palestinian teenager arrested after a video of her slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank went viral, her lawyer said Monday.
Nour Tamimi, 20, had on Dec. 15 along with Ahed Tamimi, 16, accosted two soldiers in their village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank.
The soldiers were in the yard of a home to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli motorists nearby, according to the charges filed at the Ofer military court on Sunday.
Ahed’s family said the incident occurred in the yard of their home.
A video shows the cousins approaching two Israeli soldiers and telling them to leave before shoving, kicking and slapping them.
Ahed is the most aggressive of the two in the video.
The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them. They then move backwards after Ahed’s mother Nariman becomes involved.
Nour, who was arrested on Dec. 20, was charged with aggravated assault of a soldier and disturbing soldiers carrying out their duties, the indictment read.
She appeared in the Ofer court later Monday for a hearing on whether she will be held in detention until her trial begins.
Ahed and her mother faced the same military court Monday for a hearing.
Ahed, arrested on Dec. 19, has been lauded as a hero by Palestinians who see her as bravely standing up to Israel’s 50-year occupation of the West Bank.
She has been involved in a series of previous confrontations, leading Israelis to accuse her family of using her as a pawn in staged provocations.
Palestinians however say she is engaged in legitimate resistance.