A 16-year-old Palestinian girl, hailed as a hero by Palestinians for hitting and kicking Israeli soldiers outside her home, will remain in detention until the end of her trial for alleged assault, an Israeli military court ruled on Wednesday.

Ahed Tamimi was arrested after she was filmed confronting an Israeli officer and a soldier outside her home in a village in the occupied West Bank on Dec. 15 following what Israel says was an assault by people throwing stones at its troops.

A video of the encounter showed Tamimi slapping an officer and punching a soldier next to him in the face. Both men, who were also kicked by the teenager, wore helmets and combat gear and tried to deflect her blows, but remained largely passive.

Related: Ahed Tamimi — A new symbol of Palestinian resistance?

The soldiers had deployed during a weekly Palestinian protest in the village against Israeli policy on settlements in the West Bank, one of the most heated issues in efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, frozen since 2014.

London-based Amnesty International noted the altercation took place on the same day Tamimi's 15-year-old cousin was hit in the head by a rubber bullet fired by an Israeli soldier.

Right-wing Israelis have debated whether the troops had appeared weak by opting not to strike back. The Israeli army said they acted professionally by showing restraint.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman praised the court's decision to keep Tamimi in custody, tweeting: "Israel will not permit the harming of its soldiers and anybody trying to do so will pay a heavy price."

The case has made Tamimi into a potent symbol for Palestinians, and a commentator in the left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Israel risked turning her into a "Palestinian Joan of Arc."

Charges filed on Jan. 1 against Tamimi included aggravated assault, rock-throwing, incitement and participation in "violent riots." No plea was entered at the hearing.

Tamimi's lawyer, Gaby Lasky, said the court, convening at Israel's Ofer prison near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, dismissed arguments that continued detention would violate Tamimi's rights as a minor and concluded she would pose a danger if released on bail.

"They decided the trial will begin on the thirty-first of January, but although she is only sixteen years old, the court believes that her indictment is enough to keep her in detention until the end of the trial," the attorney told reporters.

An adult found guilty of assaulting a soldier could be jailed for up to 10 years, but such an outcome would be unlikely for a minor.

Calling for Tamimi's release, Amnesty said on Monday that nothing Tamimi had done against armed soldiers wearing protective gear "can justify the continuing detention of a 16-year-old girl."

Tamimi, whose father is a prominent Palestinian activist, made news two years ago when she was pictured biting a soldier who tried to arrest her younger brother.

Palestinians want the West Bank for a future state, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Most countries consider the Israeli settlements built in the territory which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war illegal.

Israel disputes that and says the future of the settlements should be determined in peace talks with the Palestinians.

By Ali Sawafta/Reuters

Additional reporting by Ori Lewis, Writing by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem,; Editing by Robin Pomeroy.</s>The trial of a teenaged Palestinian girl whose assault on two Israeli soldiers gained global attention opened before an Israeli military court Tuesday, but the judge ordered the proceedings to be held behind closed doors.

Ahed Tamimi, who turned 17 in prison last month, appeared fresh and confident as she was led into a courtroom packed with journalists and foreign diplomats. She briefly acknowledged relatives attending the hearing before the judge ordered everyone except her family out of the courtroom.

After the prosecution read the 12-count indictment, the trial was adjourned until next month.

Tamimi was arrested in December after she was filmed confronting two Israeli soldiers outside her West Bank home. The video showed Tamimi kicking one soldier in the leg and slapping his face before striking the other soldier in the face.

The soldiers had deployed to the area during Palestinian protests against Israeli settlements.

Tamimi faces assault and incitement charges and could spend years in prison if convicted.

The Palestinian teenager has become the latest symbol of the long-running battle between Israelis and Palestinians over global public opinion. Her case highlights the issue of what constitutes legitimate resistance to Israeli rule over millions of Palestinians since the Jewish state’s capture of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in 1967.</s>Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, 16, has gone on trial before an Israeli military court. Israel has faced criticism for prosecuting the teen who has become a powerful symbol of the Palestinian resistance.Only family members were allowed to remain in the courtroom at Ofer military base, and diplomats were also asked to leave. After the prosecution read out the indictment, Tamimi's trial was adjourned until March 11.Ahead of Ahed Tamimi's trial, RT America visited her home village of Nabi Saleh to speak to her family. It also spoke to Luisa Morgantini, the former vice president of the European Parliament (EP).Morgantini said the "injustice of the Israeli occupation is so great that one cannot remain silent."She said that she organized delegations from the EP to come to the Occupied Palestinian Territories to "see with their own eyes" what is happening on the ground. She added that many European parliamentarians had a different view after speaking with ordinary Palestinians "who were not like how our media described them."The teen is charged with aggravated assault relating to an incident in the West Bank in December. A seven-page indictment lists 12 charges against the 16-year-old.On December 15, Tamimi and her family were protesting against US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.A video, which has since gone viral, shows the unarmed teenage girl slapping, kicking, and shoving two armed Israeli soldiers who were wearing protective gear.On December 19, her home was raided by Israeli soldiers at night. She was arrested, and now faces charges of aggravated assault, obstructing the work of soldiers, and incitement. The girl's mother, Nariman, followed Tamimi to the police station in order to protect her daughter. Instead, she herself was arrested.UN experts have pointed out that Tamimi was arrested in the middle of the night by armed soldiers, and questioned by Israeli security officials without a lawyer or family members present.Jose Guevara, chair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, said on Tuesday.Experts have also expressed concern that Tamimi's place of detention - Hasharon prison in Israel - was in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that the deportation of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the occupying power, or to that of any other country, is prohibited, regardless of the motive.Speaking to RT's Going Underground in January, Ahed's father, Bassem Tamimi, said: "I am a father. My heart, my soul, my wife, my daughter are in the hands of my enemy. I am scared, worried, sad, everything."Despite it all, he said he's "proud" of his daughter and that she is strong to face the "enemy." He also said Israel has no respect for international law and acts with impunity because of its "power.""There is nothing more provocative than Israel's occupation [of Palestine]...so the normal reaction is to resist," Bassem Tamimi said.In 2012, Amnesty International labeled Bassem Tamimi a prisoner of conscience during one of his numerous stints in an Israeli prison. Meanwhile, Nariman Tamimi has been detained five times by Israeli forces for protest action. Ahed has been detained twice under the same circumstances.Ahed Tamimi's case has attracted global attention and condemnation, with both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) calling for her release after her December arrest.In January, European Union representatives and EU heads of mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah released a statement in which they expressed "deep concern" over the arrests of Ahed Tamimi and other Palestinian minors.It also says her case raises concerns that "Israel's military justice system, which detains hundreds of Palestinian children every year, is incapable of respecting children's rights."This is not an "isolated case," said Michael Lynk, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory on Tuesday.</s>The closely watched trial of a Palestinian girl for slapping and punching two Israeli soldiers opened before an Israeli military court in the West Bank on Tuesday, but the judge ordered all proceedings to be held behind closed doors in a case that has drawn wide criticism of Israel for prosecuting the teenager.

A large crowd of local and international journalists had shown up to cover the trial of 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi, who has become something of an icon for Palestinians and supporters of their cause worldwide.

Tamimi, dressed in a prison jacket with her hands and feet shackled, smiling slightly, appeared fresh and confident as she entered the packed courtroom. She briefly whispered to relatives in the back of the room before the judge ordered everyone except her family out.

Ahed Tamimi has been incarcerated since she was arrested on Dec. 19, four days after she was filmed confronting the soldiers outside her West Bank home.

Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement that could potentially lead to years in prison.

But Ahed Tamimi's supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers outside her West Bank home in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes.

The teen with the large curly mane of blond hair, who turned 17 in jail last month, has become the latest symbol of the long-running battle between Palestinians and Israelis over global public opinion.

Israel's full-throttle prosecution of Tamimi, one of an estimated 300 Palestinian minors in Israeli jails, and a senior Israeli official's recent revelation that he once had parliament investigate whether the blond, blue-eyed Tamimis are a "real" Palestinian family have helped stoke ongoing interest in the case.

International human rights groups have criticized the aggressive prosecution, and diplomats from the European Union and several European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, attended Tuesday's hearing as observers before they were kicked out along with journalists.

The clashes occurred in Nabi Saleh, the West Bank town where some 600 members of Tamimi's extended family live. Since 2009, residents there have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes.

Ahed Tamimi has participated in such marches from a young age, and has had several highly publicized run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist toward a soldier towering over her.

In his decision, the judge, Lt. Col. Menachem Lieberman, said the trial would remain closed for Tamimi's own protection. "I didn't think it's good for the minor that there are 100 people in the courtroom," he said.

Tamimi's Israeli lawyer, Gaby Lasky, objected, saying the family wants the proceedings to be public. She accused the court of closing the proceedings to prevent the world from watching.

"They understand that people outside Ofer military court are interested in Ahed's case, they understand that her rights are being infringed and her trial is something that shouldn't be happening," Lasky said.

"The way to keep it out of everybody's eyes is to close doors and not allow people inside the court for the hearing."

She said her strategy would be to argue that Israel's continued occupation over the West Bank, captured in the 1967 Mideast war, is illegal and that the indictment is aimed at deterring Ahed and other Palestinian youths "from resisting occupation nonviolently."

Earlier in the day, Tamimi's father told The Associated Press as he headed into the court that he came "with no good expectations, because this a military court, and it's part of the Israeli military occupation."</s>More than two dozen prominent US Black artists and public figures are speaking out in support of Ahed Tamimi, as the teenager’s trial began in an Israeli military court.

On Tuesday, Ahed was brought before the Ofer military court in the occupied West Bank.

Amid the presence of many journalists and diplomats, the military judge ordered the session to be held behind closed doors, claiming this was for Ahed’s own good.

Only Ahed’s family and lawyers were allowed to stay.

Bassem Tamimi, Ahed’s father, posted a video on his Facebook page after the hearing which shows him calling out to his daughter in the military court, “stay strong.”

According to Bassem’s post, the military prosecutor read out the charges against his daughter.

He says her lawyer responded by saying that the court was illegitimate, part of a racist system and had nothing to do with justice.

Bassem said Ahed’s next appearance was set for 11 March, while Ahed’s mother Nariman and cousin Nour will be brought before the military tribunal on 6 March.

Ahed and her mother are being held by Israel for the duration of the military court proceeding.

Scornful of the judge’s decision to expel journalists and diplomats, Bassem called it an effort by a “fascist” state to cover up the “farce and racism of its courts and laws.”

He questioned whether European states, whose diplomats were excluded from the hearing, would take minimum measures – which they have failed to implement so far – to hold Israel accountable.

This video, published by the Haaretz newspaper, shows Ahed being brought into the military court on Tuesday:

Commenting on the judge’s claim that the court session was closed for Ahed’s own good, the teenager’s lawyer Gaby Lasky told media, “I think that the [judge] does not think it is good for the court.”

Haaretz commentator Anshel Pfeffer praised the judge’s order as a “stroke of genius” that would “prevent the court from becoming a media circus and providing Tamimi, her family, lawyers and activists with a convenient opportunity to put the occupation on trial.”

Ahed Tamimi was detained in a night raid in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh almost two months ago, after video circulated showing her and a cousin slapping and shoving two heavily armed Israeli soldiers following an incident in which a soldier had shot in the head and seriously injured their 15-year-old cousin Muhammad Tamimi.

Outraged by a perceived insult to their occupation forces, Israeli leaders have vowed revenge against the Tamimi family and are subjecting Ahed, her mother Nariman and cousin Nour to military trials in kangaroo courts with a near-100 percent conviction rate.

Earlier Tuesday Bassem told media that his daughter and wife have done nothing wrong and are detained by Israel because “of their fight for freedom and justice.”

In a statement published Monday, prominent Black public figures call on US lawmakers to endorse a bill that would prohibit US aid to Israel being used for the military detention, torture and abuse of Palestinian children.

Introduced by Betty McCollum in November, the bill currently has 21 cosponsors.

Those backing the call include actors Rosario Dawson, Danny Glover and Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams; The New Jim Crow author Michelle Alexander; Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Alice Walker; public intellectuals Angela Davis, Cornel West and Marc Lamont Hill; organizers Patrisse Cullors and dream hampton; and rappers Tef Poe, Vic Mensa and Jasiri X.

Signatory Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks was last year among several American football players who pulled out of a propaganda tour of Israel, explaining that he would “not be used” by Israel’s government to whitewash violations of Palestinian rights.

Ahed Tamimi is one of some 350 Palestinian children currently in Israeli military detention.

“From Trayvon Martin to Muhammad Abu Khudair and Kalief Browder to Ahed Tamimi – racism, state violence and mass incarceration have robbed our people of their childhoods and their futures,” the public figures say, likening Israel’s persecution of Ahed and other children to the state violence that has taken the lives and freedom of African American youths.

“While our struggles may be unique, the parallels cannot be ignored,” they add, noting that US police, border patrol and other law enforcement “train with Israeli soldiers, police, and border agents, utilizing similar repressive profiling tactics to target and harass our communities.”

In a striking example, Missouri governor Eric Greitens announced last week that his state’s National Guard would soon take part in joint training with the Israeli army, which the Associated Press reported would involve “homeland defense tactics and procedures.”

Amnesty International is reiterating its call on Israel to immediately free Ahed.

“Nothing that Ahed Tamimi has done can justify the continuing detention of a 16-year-old girl,” Amnesty stated in mid-January. “The Israeli authorities must release her without delay.”

Tamimi marked her 17th birthday in an Israeli prison on 31 January and faces at least another month behind bars.</s>The trial opened Tuesday in an Israeli military court for 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi. She is accused of assaulting Israeli soldiers outside her home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

For many Palestinians, Tamimi is a symbol of resistance to a half-century military occupation that stands in the way of Palestinian independence and shows no sign of ending.

For many Israelis, Tamimi is a provocateur who goads soldiers on video and champions rock-throwing, influenced by relatives who have been involved in protests and attacks against Israelis.

Tamimi was arrested and indicted after a public outcry in Israel when a video of an altercation with the soldiers, posted by her mother, went viral.

Tamimi has been in Israeli jail since December, and the case has garnered international attention. She was ushered into the small courtroom Tuesday morning, appearing calm, as a large group of reporters, foreign diplomats and some Israeli peace activists crowded the area.

But shortly after, the military judge ordered that the trial be held behind closed doors, and Tamimi was ushered out of the courtroom. The reporters and observers were ordered to leave, then allowed back into the courtroom as Tamimi's lawyer argued to keep the trial open.

"I don't think this is in the interest of the minor" to have a large crowd in the courtroom, military judge Lt. Col. Menachem Lieberman ruled, clearing the courtroom of all but her family and lawyers.

"What I think is that the court doesn't think it's good for the court to have all of you inside of it," Tamimi's attorney Gaby Lasky told reporters outside, "so you cannot carry on watching her trial." She said the military prosecutors did not object to an open trial.

Tamimi is indicted on 12 counts, including assaulting an Israeli officer and soldier — as seen in the video — on Dec. 15 and for five additional events in which she allegedly assaulted Israeli forces, threw rocks at them, threatened them, obstructed them during their duties and participated in riots and incited others to do so. She could face several months or years in jail if convicted.

An indictment also was filed against Nariman Tamimi, Ahed's mother, who uploaded the video to Facebook. In it, the soldiers don't appear to react to Tamimi's confrontation. The military said in a statement that it is charging Nariman Tamimi with using Facebook to "incite others to commit terrorist attacks."

Both women are being held until the end of their proceedings, which could last months.

The altercation with soldiers happened shortly after Tamimi's cousin was shot in the head with a rubber bullet during a demonstration as he climbed a wall of a complex that Israeli soldiers had commandeered, according to Bassem Tamimi, Ahed's father, who is a well-known leader of protests in his village.

Military prosecutors say Ahed Tamimi's slapping, kicking and punching of soldiers was assault. Bassem Tamimi recently told NPR that his daughter's confrontation is a natural reaction to a life of watching her relatives being arrested and killed.

Lasky, Tamimi's lawyer, said Israel "wants to deter Ahed and other young people from resisting occupation nonviolently."

In an interview with NPR, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Michael Oren recently described the video as very personal for Israelis. Referring to soldiers, he said that "for an Israeli audience to see again and again photos of our children being beaten up and not have the army react in any way was very, very difficult for the society."

Human rights advocates, including Human Rights Watch, have criticized Ahed Tamimi's pre-trial detention – now at more than 55 days. "Her case raises concern that Israel's military justice system, which detains hundreds of Palestinian children every year, is incapable of respecting children's rights," the rights group stated.

Bassem Tamimi said he rejected the authority of the military court and did not expect justice to be delivered in his daughter's trial.

B'tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, criticized the decision to close the trial to reporters. "The sudden concern for her rights is even less convincing considering their violation up till now, including her nighttime arrest, which was released to the media, her lengthy investigation in which she faced her interrogators by herself, and her remand in custody," B'tselem added.

Lasky told reporters that in her preliminary arguments on Tuesday, she argued that the military court itself is illegitimate "because of the illegality of the occupation."

She said Israel's occupation of the West Bank, now in its 51st year, is no longer temporary — because of the existence of Israeli settlements and lawmakers' efforts to annex Israeli settlement areas to Israel — and so therefore not legal.

"Occupation is illegal, and so this court cannot be holding trial," she told reporters.

A statement from activists representing the Tamimis said Lasky also argued there is "abuse of process" because Israeli authorities prosecute residents of the West Bank under two separate legal systems — civil courts for Israeli settlers and military courts for Palestinians.

Israel argues that its presence in the West Bank is not illegal and that its disputed status should be determined through negotiations. It also argues the Palestinians have repeatedly declined Israeli offers of compromise on the territory.

The prosecution read the indictment, but Ahed Tamimi has not yet entered a plea. The next hearing is scheduled for March 11, Lasky said.</s>The Palestinian 17-year-old could face up to 14 years prison for defying the occupation.The trial of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi started in the Israeli military court at Ofer military prison in the West Bank on Tuesday. The teen activistand could be sentenced to 14 years in prison after the months-long trial is completed.The Israeli military targeted Tamimi after her mother, a prominent Palestinian rights activist, posted a video last December in which Ahed can be seen kicking and slapping a heavily armored Israeli soldier and threatening to hit another. She was then seized by the military during a night raid and has been in custody awaiting trial since then. Tamimi celebrated her 17th birthday last month in Israel's HaSharon Prison.Human rights organizations, activists, and well-wishers have condemned her arrest and demanded her immediate release, butIn India alone, 10 million women are demanding her release, saying in a statement that their own struggles against patriarchy, caste, class, religious divides and militarization form the basis of their solidarity with Palestinian women.Her family thinks the. This morning, diplomats, rights researchers, and journalists along with dozens of other observers were ordered out of the court in a decision which judge Lieutenant Colonel Menachem Lieberman said was for Tamimi's protection., including her cousins and her mother, Nariman. Her mother was accused of using Facebook "to incite others to commit terrorist attacks," according to the army.Amnesty International has also called for Ahed's immediate release. Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, has said that as an unarmed girl, "Ahed posed no threat during the altercation with the two Israeli soldiers who were heavily armed and wearing protective clothing," and that the"Israeli authorities have shown nothing but contempt for their obligations under international law to protect children," said Mughrabi. "Nothing she has done can justify her continued detention and the long, aggressive interrogation sessions she has been forced to endure during the first two weeks of her detention."Ahed has appeared in other viral videos showing her defying Israeli soldiers as a small child. She was seen in a video threatening to punch a soldier when she was only 11 years old.She comes from Nabi Saleh, a village where protests and clashes are not uncommon, and her family is active in opposition to Israeli occupation.According to Amnesty International, there are currently about 350 Palestinian children in Israeli prisons and detention centers. The Israeli Defense Forces say that about 1,400 Palestinian children have been prosecuted in special juvenile military courts just in the past three years.</s>Teenage Palestinian protester Ahed Tamimi is to go on trial before an Israeli military court on Tuesday for slapping and punching two Israeli soldiers.

Teenage Palestinian protester Ahed Tamimi is to go on trial before an Israeli military court on Tuesday for slapping and punching two Israeli soldiers.

Israel’s prosecution of Tamimi, one of an estimated 300 Palestinian minors in Israeli jails, and a senior Israeli official’s recent revelation that he once had parliament investigate whether the blonde, blue-eyed Tamimis are a “real” Palestinian family, have helped stoke ongoing interest in the case. The teenager, who recently turned 17 in jail, has become the latest symbol of the long-running battle between Palestinians and Israelis.

The case touches on what constitutes legitimate resistance to Israel’s rule over millions of Palestinians, already in its 51st year after Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in 1967. Ahed Tamimi’s supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers outside her West Bank home in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes.

Demonstrators hold posters in support of the teenager (AP) Israel has treated Tamimi’s actions as a criminal offence, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement that could potentially land her in prison for several years. Tamimi’s arrest from her home in December and her pre-trial court appearances, flanked by Israeli guards and looking impassive, have evoked a sense of history on a loop. Another generation of Palestinians seems locked in a cycle of protests and arrests by Israel, three decades after Palestinians staged their first uprising, throwing stones and burning tyres in the streets.

Since the mid-1990s, several US-mediated rounds of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel have ended in failure. Gaps in positions only widened in the past decade, as Israeli settlement expansion continued and the Palestinians failed to end a crippling political split between an internationally backed self-rule government in parts of the West Bank and the Islamic militant group Hamas which dominates Gaza. Tamimi’s father Bassem, who threw his first stone at the age of 14 and was an activist in the first uprising, said he expects the military court will deal harshly with his daughter and that she might remain in prison for some time.

His wife, Nariman, is being prosecuted over the same December 15 scuffle in their village of Nabi Saleh and has been locked up alongside their daughter.</s>A teenage Palestinian protester filmed slapping and kicking two soldiers outside her home has appeared before an Israeli military court to face various charges including assaulting security forces, incitement and throwing stones.

Ahed Tamimi, who turned 17 in jail last month, arrived on Tuesday morning for the first day of what could be a months-long trial, in what has become a symbolic case in the battle for international public opinion.

The judge ordered a closed-door hearing and ejected a large group of journalists who had gathered at the Ofer military base, despite a request by Tamimi’s lawyer for the media to be able to observe proceedings.

Tamimi was filmed in December slapping and kicking two soldiers. Her supporters say the incident occurred soon after she discovered Israeli troops had seriously wounded her 15-year-old cousin, who was shot in the head with a rubber bullet during a stone-throwing clash.

Arrested in the middle of the night and since denied bail, Tamimi could face years in prison for what prosecutors argue was a criminal offence. She faces 12 charges, some of which date back to 2016.

Tamimi’s father, Bassem, said on Tuesday that he arrived at trial “with no good expectations, because this a military court, and it’s part of the Israeli military occupation”.

Some of Israel’s critics have said the case epitomises its brutal approach half a decade after its forces captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Tamimi comes from the village of Nabi Saleh, where regular protests from its several hundred residents have often ended with stone throwing. Since her early years, she has become an international poster girl for the anti-occupation movement. Rights groups have called for her immediate release.

“As an unarmed girl, Ahed posed no threat during the altercation with the two Israeli soldiers who were heavily armed and wearing protective clothing,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and Africa.



“Yet again the Israeli authorities have responded to acts of defiance by a Palestinian child with measures that are entirely disproportionate to the incident in question.”

Hysteria over how the world perceives Tamimi, who comes from a family with a long history of both peaceful and violent resistance against the occupation, has spread across both societies.

The footage of Tamimi led to the teenager being hailed as a hero by some Palestinians, who saw her as standing up to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

One senior Israeli official recently revealed he had asked a parliamentary committee to investigate whether the blond, blue-eyed Tamimi family were “real” Palestinians.



Some Israeli politicians have applauded the restraint of the two soldiers while others have demanded a heavy-handed punishment for what they see as a brazen attack.

“She is not a little girl, she is a terrorist,” said the culture minister, Miri Regev, before the trial. “It’s about time they will understand that people like her have to be in jail and not be allowed to incite to racism and subversion against the state of Israel.”



The Associated Press contributed to this report</s>An Israeli military court had started the trial against a 17-year-old Palestinian girl who was arrested for attacking two soldiers. Ahed Tamimi, has earned international attention after a video of slapping and kicking the two soldiers went viral after her mother streaming it live on Facebook.

The girl was arrested in December 2017 and has been detained ever since. On 13 February, she was seen entering the courtroom at the Ofer military prison near Ramallah for preliminary trial hearings. The closed-door trial is based on 12 charges including those of aggravated assault and incitement.

"I don't think this is in the interest of the minor" military judge Lt Col Menachem Lieberman said before having the courtroom cleared of everyone but her family and lawyers.

However, Gaby Lasky, who is defending Ahed, believes the close-door trial is meant to curb support for her client. "What I think is that the court doesn't think it's good for the court to have all of you inside of it so you cannot carry on watching her trial," she told reporters.

The attack in question took place when the suspect was 16 years old and she brought in her 17th birthday while in custody. If charged as an adult, she could face 10 years in prison.

Ahed and her family reside in West Bank town of Nabi Saleh, which has over the years seen continuous conflict between anti-occupation protestors and a nearby Israeli settlement. As IBTimes UK had previously reported, Ahed, a familiar face in the protests, was angered after learning that her 15-year-old cousin Mohammed Tamimi had been seriously injured after being hit in the head by a soldier's rubber bullet.

Bassem Tamimi, Ahed's father said the attack took place during a stone-throwing protest. His daughter was reportedly upset when she approached the two soldiers and began slapping and kicking them. The two uniformed men did not retaliate but attempted to defend themselves from the assault.

The case has triggered a debate between those who see the girl as an icon of resistance and others who perceive her simply as an attention-seeking youth. Petra Marquardt-Bigman is a German-Israeli researcher wrote a scathing op-ed in the Haaretz, describing the Tamimi family as espousing a "seething Jew-hatred and the enthusiastic support for terrorism".

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman also praised the move to keep the girl detained along with her mother Neriman Tamimi. "Everyone involved, not only the girl but also her parents and those around them will not escape from what they deserve," he said in December. "Whoever goes wild during the day, will be arrested at night. This is also an important message."

Human rights groups have protested the minor's imprisonment and demanded she be released for the period of her trial.

"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 International said in a statement.

"By refusing to release Ahed Tamimi since her arrest on 19 December, the Israeli authorities have shown nothing but contempt for their obligations under international law to protect children," Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy director of AI's Middle East and Africa chapters, said. "Nothing she has done can justify her continued detention and the long, aggressive interrogation sessions she has been forced to endure during the first two weeks of her detention.

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl was most recently given a special tribute courtesy Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick, the man responsible for the iconic black and red Che Guevara poster.

Fitzpatrick shared a new freely downloadable image on his website of Ahed holding up the Palestinian flag. In the right-hand corner, the logo for DC Comics character Wonder Woman is featured with the line, "There is a real Wonder Woman".

Speaking to Newsweek, the artist said he was moved by the courage and strength of the young girl.

"Ahed Tamimi, to me, signifies nobility in the face of oppression. This is a kid, a child," he told the news website. "When I was 15, I think I would have been petrified. Wherever she's getting her courage from, there's a resonance of it echoing across the world. I'm just a part of it."

Referring to calls for her execution, Fitzpatrick said her extended detention was appalling. "What's [behind it] is that old thing from the Talmud, 'Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.' I'm afraid they're going to kill her. And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing," he added.

Ahed's case was adjourned until March and is expected to continue for months, during which may be forced to stay in custody.
In closed-door proceedings at an Israeli military court in Ofer Prison, near Ramallah, 17-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi is indicted on 12 counts of assault and incitement. She is ordered held until the end of the trial, which is adjourned until next month.