By Adel al-Thabti

TUNIS

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi on Tuesday met with teenage Palestinian resistance icon Ahed al-Tamimi and her family at Carthage Palace, according to a presidential statement. 

This reception of al-Tamimi represents “a renewed and firm recognition of the justice of the Palestinian cause and its place in the conscience of the Tunisian people”, Essebsi said in a statement issued by the Presidency. 

He underlined Tunisia’s support for the Palestinian people and their right to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. 

Al-Tamimi, for her part, expressed her gratitude to the Tunisian president for inviting her to visit the Arab country. 

The Palestinian teen arrived in Tunisia late Monday upon an invitation from the Tunisian leader. 

The visit coincided with the 33rd anniversary of Israeli airstrikes on the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) south of capital Tunis on October 01, 1985, which left scores of people dead. 

Later in the day, the Tunisian General Union of Labor will hold a ceremony to honor the Palestinian activist and her family, the union wrote on Facebook. 

On July 29, Israeli authorities released al-Tamimi and her mother, Nariman, after both had served eight months behind bars. 

The 17-year-old was detained by Israeli forces last December after she was filmed slapping an Israeli soldier during a raid on her home. 

In 2012, Istanbul’s Basaksehir Municipality granted al-Tamimi the prestigious Hanzala Courage Award for defying Israeli soldiers who had just arrested her brother.