UPDATE 30/07/18: Ahed Tamimi was set free on 29 July! She and her mother Narima have returned to their home of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank. Thank you to the over 18,000 Australians who took action to free Ahed.
UPDATE 14/04/18: Ahed was sentenced to 8 months in prison and a fine on 31 March. Israeli authorities have shown yet again that they have no regard for the rights of Palestinian children – please watch the video of Ahed’s interrogation and call for her immediate release.
At 17 years old, Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi has been called the ‘Rosa Parks of Palestine’. For years, she and her family have bravely stood up against the illegal Israeli occupation. Now she’s facing up to 10 years in prison over an altercation with Israeli soldiers outside her home.
In a video that went viral on social media, an unarmed Ahed is shown coming face to face with two armed Israeli soldiers. She’s then seen slapping and kicking the soldiers wearing protective gear who were able to easily brush her advances away.
On 19 December, Ahed was arrested during a night raid of her home by Israeli soldiers. Since then, she has endured aggressive interrogation, sometimes at night, and threats made against her family.
Ahed is now charged with aggravated assault and obstructing the work of soldiers. Her trial before a military juvenile court is set for 31 January.
Ahed Tamimi and her extended family live in the village of Nabi Saleh, a Palestinian village 120 km from Jerusalem. They face frequent violence from the Israeli army for protesting against the theft of their land and loss of water resource as a result of Israeli settlement — a war crime stemming from Israel’s 50-year occupation of Palestinian land.
She’s one of approximately 350 Palestinian children held in Israeli prisons and detention centres.
There is nothing Ahed Tamimi has done that can justify the continuing detention of a 17-year-old child.