Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian teenager whose detention after she slapped an Israeli soldier caused an international outcry, was released today to a heroine’s welcome in her home village.
The 17-year old, who was arrested after the incident outside Nabi Saleh on the West Bank last December when she was still 16, told the crowd greeting her on her return: “The resistance will continue until the end of the occupation.”
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, described her as a “role model and as an example of the popular Palestinian struggle for liberty and independence.”
Detained since her arrest, she received an eight-month sentence and a fine of just over £1,000 after pleading guilty to four counts of incitement and assault in March. Her mother was also released from prison today.
