The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Professor Ahmad At-Tayyeb reacted to the case of the 16-year-old Palestinian girl ˤAhed Al-Tamimi, who was arrested by the Zionist occupation forces late at night, on December 18, 2017. The girl stood up agaisnt two heavily-armed Zionist soldiers who were in the courtyard of her house, in the Palestinian Nabi Saleh village, occupied by the Zionist entity for more than fifty years.

Grand Imam At-Tayyeb denounced the Zionist occupation forces’ arrest of the Palestinian girl, saying “ˤAhed At-Tamimi’s courage is not unusual for Palestinian females. Her courage and her family’s struggle constitute new evidence that the brutality and oppression of the occupation will not quell the spirit of resistance in the hearts of the free Palestinian people.

Grand Imam At-Tayyeb also called on human rights and humanitarian organizations to assume their responsibilities and perform their duties in defending ˤAhed At-Tamimi, and other Palestinians in the prisons of the occupation. The Grand Imam asserted that those Palestinians’ resistance to the occupation is guaranteed by the international law and all religious and humanitarian laws, and that they have the right to work on liberating their lands and establishing their independent state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

This call had a great impact on the international community, as it contributed to exposing the Zionist entity’s cruelty towards Palestinian children and minors.