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How Ahed Tamimi became an icon to Palestinians

With her indictment in Israeli court last month, 16-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi has reached hero status among Palestinians for her confrontations with Israeli soldiers.

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Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi (R) enters a military courtroom escorted by Israeli Prison Service personnel at Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Jan. 1, 2018. — REUTERS/Ammar Awad

RAMALLAH, West Bank — An Israeli military court indicted 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi on five counts of assault for attacking two soldiers on Dec. 15, thus extending her detention as well as that of her mother, Nariman Tamimi, for eight additional days. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9.

Ever since Ahed was arrested on Dec. 19 over a video in which she is seen slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers in front of her family home, she has received considerable attention and support. An online campaign is demanding Ahed’s release, while the hashtag #AhedTamimi has trended all over social media, in particular on Twitter with tens of thousands of tweets.

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