Hero’s welcome for protester released from Israeli prison
NABI SALEH, West Bank — Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers, was released from an Israeli prison Sunday.
At an outdoor news conference near her family home, the 17-year-old briefly raised her fist and said the “occupation must leave,” speaking against against the backdrop of a large model of a slingshot that was “loaded” with a pencil rather than a stone, apparently to highlight education as a possible Palestinian tactic.
However, she stopped short of committing to continued acts of protests and said her eightmonth prison stint had taught her to appreciate life.
Underlying her case are clashing narratives about Israel’s half-century rule over the Palestinians, the extent of permissible Palestinian resistance to it and the battle for global public opinion.
Tamimi’s supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes.
In Israel, she is seen by many as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military’s deterrence policy — even as a “terrorist.” Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. In liberal circles, the hard-charging prosecution of Tamimi was criticized as a public relations disaster because it turned her into an international icon.
Ahed and her mother Nariman — also arrested in December in connection with the same incident — were released from a prison in northern Israel. They were driven by bus to the West Bank and were given a hero’s welcome in their home village of Nabi Saleh.
“The resistance continues until the occupation is removed,” Ahed said upon her return. “All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case.”
From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She laid a wreath, kissed the headstone and recited a prayer from the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 while in custody.