By Victoria Bisset andNiha Masih
November 30, 2023
Ahed Tamimi, a prominent 22-year-old Palestinian activist, was released from Israeli prison on Nov. 30 as part of the latest exchange between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was freed from prison in Israel as part of the latest exchange in a captive release deal between Israel and Hamas.
The 22-year-old, one of the highest-profile Palestinian activists, as a teenager became a potent symbol of protests against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
She was added Monday to an expanded list of prisoners approved for release under the deal and was among 30 Palestinian prisoners and 10 Israeli hostages due for release Wednesday.
After her release, video from the Associated Press showed her surrounded by supporters. One woman embraces her and tells her to be strong.
“Of course, I am always strong,” she replies.
Tamimi, born to a well-known activist family, rose to international prominence after footage of her slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in her village of Nabi Saleh went viral in 2017 and she served eight months in prison on assault and incitement charges. Her imprisonment drew attention to the issue of Palestinian minors detained in Israeli prisons.
Tamimi’s most recent arrest came on Nov. 6, a month into the war with Gaza. She was one of several Palestinians who the Israel Defense Forces said were arrested in the West Bank in early November on suspicion “of involvement in terrorist activity and incitement.” The IDF shared a screenshot of what it said was a story posted on her Instagram account that contained violent threats toward settlers in the West Bank.
Tamimi’s mother, Nariman, denied the charges against her daughter, telling The Post that it was not written by Tamimi and that her daughter’s most recent Instagram account “was hacked 10 months ago.”
Tamimi’s father, Bassem, was arrested the week before, Nariman Tamimi said.
Amani Sarahneh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners Society, told The Post on Tuesday that Ahed Tamimi was being held at Dimona prison.
Dozens of Palestinians have been accused of terrorism or similar charges over messages posted on social media in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 cross-border attack inside Israel, something rights groups have criticized as a crackdown on free speech. According to one rights group in Haifa, Israel, hundreds of Palestinian Israelis have faced hearings at their workplaces or universities over their social media posts.
The release of Tamimi and 29 other Palestinians came on the sixth consecutive day of captive exchanges between Israel and Hamas since a pause in fighting came into effect on Friday. The agreement was originally due to last four days and include the release of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, but it has since been extended to allow for additional releases.
Tamimi’s image became a fixture on murals and posters around the globe after her 2017 arrest. Nabi Saleh, her village, had been the site of weekly protests since Jewish settlers confiscated some of the land in 2009.
Her defense said the soldiers were part of a group that had shot her cousin, Mohammed al-Tamimi, moments before the 2017 incident seen on video. A senior Israeli military official denied Mohammed had been shot, despite evidence from medical records and witness testimony, The Washington Post reported at the time.
“There is no justice under the occupation,” she told the military court during her sentencing.
Rights groups including Human Rights Watch have argued that incarcerating minors from occupied territory inside Israel poses humanitarian concerns.
After completing her sentence, Tamimi arrived home to a hero’s welcome and was greeted by crowds of supporters. “Anyone who also chooses this path should prepare themselves to spend time in prison,” she told reporters.
Israel’s free speech crackdown: ‘War inside of a war’
Last week, Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners who could be eligible for release as part of the exchanges — most of them male, and more than a third of them minors. The youngest on the list were 14 years old. On Monday night, Israel added 50 Palestinian female prisoners to the list who could be released in exchanges.
Israel has described the Palestinian prisoners on the lists as “terrorists” in its communication with media organizations. The people on the list are accused of crimes ranging from throwing stones to attempted murder. Many of the people listed have not been formally sentenced, which could suggest that they have not stood trial. Some have been held in “administrative detention,” under which individuals in the occupied West Bank can be held without charge or trial indefinitely. Rights groups have raised concerns about a lack of due process in Israel’s judicial system, especially in the country’s military courts.
According to Israeli human rights organization HaMoked, almost a third of Palestinian prisoners are held under administrative detention.
How Israel keeps hundreds of Palestinians in detention without charge
Since the beginning of the current war, Israeli forces have made almost 3,300 arrests, including of some people who were released after a few days, according to Sarahneh, of the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
The West Bank has seen unprecedented levels of violence from Jewish settlers, according to rights groups, with President Biden condemning the attacks by “extremist settlers,” which he said amounted to “pouring gasoline” on an already volatile situation.
At least 295 attacks on Palestinians by settlers, in many cases accompanied or supported by Israeli forces, have been recorded in the West Bank since Oct. 7, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Wednesday. Most of the incidents involved damage to Palestinian property, but 33 incidents resulted in Palestinian casualties, the agency added.
As settler violence surges, West Bank Palestinians fear new displacement
Miriam Berger, Annabelle Timsit, Lior Soroka and Loveday Morris contributed to this report.
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