Palestinian girl filmed slapping soldiers held by military court
AN ISRAELI military court has indicted a teenage Palestinian girl who was filmed last month in the West Bank slapping Israeli troops.
Palestinians have since hailed Ahed Tamimi, 16, as an icon in their fight against Israel. In Israel, the footage sparked debate about whether the soldiers should have retaliated.
The court indicted Ms Tamimi on several accounts including attacking soldiers as well as for previous altercations with Israeli forces. It extended her remand for eight days.
She was filmed in December outside her family home, pushing, kicking and slapping the soldiers, who fended off the blows without retaliating.
Her father Bassem has said she was upset after her 15-year-old cousin had been shot with a rubber bullet.
The military confirmed rubber bullets had been used following what it said was a violent demonstration but had no information about who was shot.
Bassem called the indictment a “political trial”, saying Israel dug up old incidents as well as the one filmed in order to “justify her arrest”.
Ms Tamimi was arrested at her home in a pre-dawn raid three days after the confrontation amid an uproar in Israel.
She has made headlines in the past, most famously in 2015 when she bit a soldier’s hand as he held her brother in a chokehold.
In a separate case, the family of a female Palestinian lawmaker who has been jailed without charge since July said her detention has been extended for another six months.
Khalida Jarrar has been held under an Israeli policy called administrative detention, which allows Palestinians to be detained without any charges being filed.
Ms Jarrar, who is in her mid50s, is a popular figure among Palestinians. In 2015, Israel sentenced her to 15 months for incitement to violence.
She is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a left-leaning faction opposed to peace with Israel and which is branded a terrorist group in the west.
Her husband Ghassan Jarrar said Israel was holding her for political reasons after failing to find legitimate grounds for an arrest.