Palestinian Ahed Tamimi: 'I Would Go To Prison 100 More Times'

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, 17, has said she would go to prison "100 more times" to fight for the Palestinian cause after serving eight months for confronting Israeli soldiers.

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"I hope nobody ever goes through what I went through, but I'm glad I ended up there for my beliefs," Tamimi told RT Arabic after her release on Sunday. "And I'm ready to go to prison a hundred more times if it serves the good of my country."

Ahed was arrested along with her mother on December 19, 2017, days after being filmed – with her cousin Nour Tamimi – slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers who had invaded the Tamimi home, near Ramallah.

One of the soldiers had earlier shot her 14-year-old cousin Mohammad in the face with a rubber bullet at close range. The boy was later placed in an induced coma and had part of his skull removed.

The video immediately went viral, winning Ahed overwhelming public support from high-profile artists, actors, academics and athletes across the globe.

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"I knew they could arrest me," she told RT. "It's a common practice when your people live under Israeli oppression.

"It was the soldier who shot [Mohammed] when he was already wounded in the face and nearly died because of it. This was the same soldier who fired at teenagers near where I live."

While Ahed was incarcerated for assault and incitement of violence, another cousin – Musab, 17 – was shot dead by Israeli troops. 

"The death of my cousin hit me the hardest while I was in jail. The prison administration tried to shut down the classes we were attending – that was a low blow, too. 

"But we pulled through; we managed. These unfortunate events united us."