The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Palestinian girl, 16, praised as hero after confronting soldiers
NEBI SALEH, WEST BANK — The curly haired Palestinian teenager is seen walking up to two Israeli soldiers standing near the entrance of her house, and she can be heard telling them to leave. She then pushes and kicks both soldiers who casually fend off the blows.
Then she slaps one soldier hard in the face.
Now, the 16-year-old girl from the village of Nebi Saleh is being celebrated by Palestinians as a hero and symbol of a new generation after confronting the two soldiers in a melee caught on a video that has been widely watched.
In Israel, the soldiers’ decision not to react to the seeming provocation by Ahed Tamimi, a blonde firebrand, has stirred a debate about deterrence and drawn allegations that the army was humiliated.
Three days after the Friday confrontation, amid an uproar in Israel, Tamimi was arrested from her home in a pre-dawn raid and now faces charges of attacking soldiers.
She was led in leg shackles to an Israeli military courtroom where a judge reserved a decision on whether to keep her without bail. He ordered her held for five more days, a decision that was appealed by her defense lawyer.
“Stay strong, stay strong,” her father Bassem, a veteran activist, shouted from the spectators’ section.
The sharply conflicting Palestinian and Israeli interpretations of the widely viewed video clip highlight the deep rift between the two societies at a time of heightened tension over the status of contested Jerusalem, the centerpiece of the long-running conflict.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, setting off widespread protests by Palestinians who seek the city’s Israeli-annexed eastern sector as a capital.
Trump has said his statement did not define the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, but his move was seen by Palestinians as a sign of pro-Israel bias. In response, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said the U.S. can no longer be a Middle East mediator.
Nebi Saleh is a village of about 600 people, most of them members of Tamimi’s extended family. For eight years, villagers along with Israeli and foreign activists have protested weekly against Israeli policies in the West Bank.
The Israeli military said Friday’s protest turned violent, with about 200 Palestinians throwing stones at soldiers. Several people entered a local house, with the consent of the owners, and continued to throw stones, the army said.
Soldiers entered the house, removed the stone-throwers
and stayed at the entrance to prevent others from entering, it said. At that point, several Palestinians emerged from the house and began to “violently provoke the soldiers,” the army said.
Bassem Tamimi said that minutes earlier, soldiers had fired a rubber bullet from close range at 15-yearold Mohammed Tamimi, a cousin of Ahed and a frequent guest in the Tamimi home. Rubber-coated bullets are commonly used to disperse crowds. While considered nonlethal, they nonetheless can be dangerous.
The teen remained in intensive care Wednesday after surgeons removed the bullet that had entered from his mouth and lodged in his brain, said officials at Ramallah’s Istishari Hospital. The patient was alert after extensive surgery and would likely recover, they said.
Bassem Tamimi said his daughter was upset about the shooting when she approached the soldiers. The army confirmed using rubber bullets to disperse what it called a violent demonstration but said it had no information on the boy who was shot.