West Bank: Ahed Tamimi, the teenaged Palestinian protester who was recently released from Israeli prison, has no regrets about hitting an Israeli soldier in a viral video that landed her an eight-month sentence. “I would say this is the normal and natural reaction. Anyone in my place would have probably done the same thing,” the 17-year-old said, speaking to reporters from the courtyard of her family’s West Bank home. “And I would say, given the circumstances and the situation, yes, mostly likely, even if I knew it would cost me eight months in prison, I would have done it,” Tamimi added.
Tamimi, released from prison on Sunday, has been touted by Palestinians as a symbol of resistance to Israel’s military occupation, while many Israelis accuse her of being an agitator seeking to provoke soldiers on camera.
Speaking with her famous curly hair tied up in a bun, Tamimi seemed a bit drowsy after a never-ending stream of visits from well-wishers and interviews with the media.
Tamimi spoke cautiously, out of concern that Israel will rearrest her if she is perceived by Israeli authorities as calling for violence.
In a December 2017 video that quickly went viral, Tamimi — then 16 — is seen slapping and kicking a soldier in the driveway of her home.
The incident — broadcast live on her mother’s Facebook account — took place during the weekly anti-occupation protests in Tamimi’s hometown, Nabi Saleh, where confrontations with soldiers are common.
She was arrested shortly after and accepted an eight-month plea bargain.
Tamimi said she was “was feeling extremely frustrated and angry” when she hit the soldier because her teenage cousin was severely injured by an Israeli rubber bullet during the protest.
“We thought he was going to die,” Tamimi said of her cousin.
She said that US President Donald Trump’s controversial declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, days before the incident, also fuelled her anger.
Now, after nearly eight months in prison, the pale teenager has been lifted up as a leading Palestinian political symbol, earning praise from President Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan and international rights groups.
“I’ve lost this period of my life, the period of being a teenager, the period of being a child; I feel that has been taken from me,” she said, adding: “But that’s a sacrifice that I’m willing to make for the larger cause of Palestine.” — DPA
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
