Al Jazeera News :
Nabi Saleh, occupied West Bank – Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi has been released from Israeli prison after completing an eight-month sentence in a case that sparked international condemnation.
Tamimi broke down in tears as an emotional crowd welcomed her in the village of Nabi Saleh on Sunday.
She was released with her mother, Nariman, who also served an eight-month sentence.
Addressing the crowd, Tamimi thanked activists and the media for their support during her prison stay.
“This is a very happy moment for me,” Tamimi’s father, Bassem, told Al Jazeera prior to his daughter’s release. “We have missed them a lot. But I am also worried because the [Israeli] occupation is continuing and still in our lives.” Bassem’s happiness, however, was overshadowed by a heavy heart, as his 21-year-old son, Waed, remains in Israeli detention since being arrested in an overnight raid on his home in May.
A press conference is scheduled in the village at 4pm (13:00GMT) on Sunday.
Tamimi and her mother were arrested by Israeli forces in December 2017 after a video went viral showing the young woman, then 16, hitting and slapping two armed Israeli soldiers outside her home in Nabi Saleh.
At the time, the teen was reacting to news that her 15-year-old cousin Mohammed had been shot in the face by Israeli forces with a rubber-coated steel bullet earlier in the day, leaving him in critical condition.
Ahed Tamimi and her mother were arrested in December 2017 [Abbas Momani/AFP]
The teen’s arrest drew international condemnation and again put the spotlight on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, especially Palestinian youth.
Tamimi was indicted on 12 charges in Israel’s Ofer military court in Ramallah two weeks after her arrest. In March, Tamimi and her mother accepted plea deals that would see them serve eight months in prison, including time served, in exchange for pleading guilty to some of the charges.
Israeli forces initiated a crackdown on Nabi Saleh after the video went viral, arresting residents and shooting dead Ahed’s 21-year-old relative Izz al-Din Tamimi during a raid on the village last month. Tamimi’s cousin Mohammed, who is still healing from his injuries, has also been detained by Israeli forces twice since Israeli forces shot the teen in the face.
Tamimi’s case drew international condemnation [Nasser Shiyoukhi/AP Photo] According to Tamimi’s aunt, Manal, who is also a prominent activist in the village, 15 Nabi Saleh residents are still in Israeli custody, four of whom are minors.
Meanwhile, Bassem said he was worried about the safety of his daughter after her release, noting that she had been threatened by right-wing Israeli politicians and settlers.
Earlier this year, Nabi Saleh residents woke up to Hebrew graffiti splashed around the village, some of which read “Death to Ahed Tamimi” and “There’s no place in this world for Ahed Tamimi.” Residents believe it was the act of Israeli settlers from the adjacent Halamish settlement, which was built on top of Nabi Saleh’s lands.
In another incident, settlers from Halamish demonstrated on a road that divides the village and the settlement, carrying makeshift coffins and chanting “Death to Ahed Tamimi.”
Manal, whose two sons Mohammad, 19, and Osama, 23, have continued to be held in Israeli detention since their arrests in January, said she is also worried about how Tamimi will cope with her experience in Israeli prison.
