Ahed is free at last… But is there freedom under occupation?
By 7:00am on Sunday 29 July, Ahed and Nariman Tamimi will be free again. As free as any Palestinian can be under an oppressive Israeli military occupation, and a system of Apartheid.
Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian teenage girl who was filmed late last year slapping an IDF soldier in her village of Nabi Saleh, west of Ramallah, is expected to be released from prison on Sunday morning, after serving an eight-month sentence. Her mother, Nariman, who was also arrested in connection with the incident, is also expected to be released from prison at same time.
Bassem Tamimi said in a Facebook post, that they will be holding a press conference outside the prison at the checkpoint near Tulkarem at 7:00am, and later at the village of Nabi Saleh at 4:00pm Jerusalem time.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces barred residents from entering and exiting the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, Thursday.
According to media reports, Israeli occupation forces were deployed and have entirely closed entrances while forcibly preventing residents from moving freely. Eyewitnesses explained that the closed gates forced them to take longer, alternative routes that they should.
Further confirming the news Ahed’s family and Palestinian activists were preparing for her release with events and murals on the Israeli separation wall. “Time is an eternity for those who wait; it is mixed feelings. Our home and hearts are open to reuniting with her; hopefully, we will meet soon,” her father Bassem Tamimi told Reuters Thursday.
Ahed Tamimi rose to international fame when a video of her slapping Israeli soldiers in her village of Nabi Saleh went viral. She was arrested in an overnight raid on her home three days after the video was released. Tamimi, who turned 17 in detention, faced 12 charges including aggravated assault and incitement.
Human rights group Amnesty International released a statement calling on Israel to immediately release Tamimi, who has been held since December 19.
According to the Amnesty statement, “Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a state party, the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child must be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.”
Amnesty said that Tamimi’s detention is not a unique case. According to the human rights organization, the Israeli army is currently detaining around 350 Palestinian minors, and subjecting them to “ill-treatment, including blindfolding, threats, solitary confinement and interrogations without the presence of their lawyers or family members.”
The 17-year-old activist was prosecuted by an Israeli military court, which many refer to as a “kangaroo court”, and is considered as both illegal and illegitimate court.
Ahed was sentenced to eight months in prison after video of her slapping and yelling at an Israeli occupation soldier became viral. Ahed was attempting to force the Israeli soldier out of her family’s house. Her mother, Nariman, and cousin, Nour, were also arrested for the same incident.
Her 15-year-old cousin, Mohammed Tamimi had been shot in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet a day before. Tamimi was charged with aggravated assault, obstructing the work of soldiers, and incitement, among other charges on Jan. 2.
The Tamimi family has been constantly targeted due to their active resistance against the expansion of a nearby illegal Israeli settlement named Halamish.
According to Israeli human rights group B’tselem, at least 350 Palestinian children are currently jailed in Israeli prisons.
The Tamimi case also highlighted other aspects of the Israeli military court system including its more than 99 percent conviction rate for Palestinians.
Omar Shakir, head of NGO Human Rights Watch in Israel, said her release on Sunday would be a moment to reflect on what he called the “endemic” ill-treatment of children in the Israeli legal system.
According to Palestinian figures, roughly 6,500 Palestinians — including an estimated 350 minors — are currently languishing in Israeli prisons.
At time of writing, over 1.7 million people had signed an Avaaz petition calling for Ahed release. There were numerous other petitions and campaigns worldwide calling for her release.
