‘Slap’ teen acclaimed after release from Israel jail

A PALESTINIAN teenager who was sent to prison for slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers has returned home to a hero’s welcome after being released.

Ahed Tamimi, 17, and her mother, Nariman Tamimi, were greeted with banners, cheers and Palestinian flags as they entered their home village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank.

Ahed was arrested in December after she slapped two Israeli soldiers outside her family home. Her mother filmed the incident and posted it on Facebook, where it went viral and instantly turned Ahed into a symbol of resistance to Israel’s half-centuryold military rule over the Palestinians.

Her supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after learning that Israeli troops had seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stonethrowing clashes.

In Israel, however, she is seen by many as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military’s deterrence policy.

Israel treated her actions as a criminal offence, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. Her eight-month sentence was the result of a plea deal.

In Nabi Saleh, supporters welcomed Ahed 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,” she said on her return.

“All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case.”