Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Emanuel Nachshon has slammed 2018 Champions League winners, Real Madrid, for presenting a Palestinian teenage activist with a club shirt before last weekend’s derby with bitter rivals, Atletico Madrid.
Nachshon described giving Ahed Tamimi, who was accompanied by her father, a shirt with her name printed on the back at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium as “shameful”
Spanish Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kutner also lambasted Real’s decision, describing Tamimi as a “defender of violence and terror”.
Tamimi was sentenced to an eight-month jail term in Ofer prison after pleading guilty to four counts of assault last March.
One incident of her slapping a soldier went viral on social media.
Tamimi’s mother, Nariman, also received a jail sentence for incitement after filming her daughter advocating Palestinians to stab, throw rocks or take part in martyrdom-seeking operations against Israelis to “liberate Palestine” and posting it on social media.
Both were released in July.
Nachshon tweeted, “The prestigious soccer club of Real Madrid embraces a terrorist inciting to hatred and violence. Shameful,”
“Ahed Tamimi is not a peaceful fighter but a defender of violence and terror,” tweeted Kutner.
“The institutions that received her and celebrated her indirectly encourage aggression and not the dialogue and understanding that we need.”
Tamimi was due to speak on the Palestinian “resistance movement” and her experiences in Israeli prison at political events in France.
Israel Security Agency banned the Tamimi family from travelling through Israeli territory for the 20-day trip to Europe.
French and Spanish news reports did not state how they made the trip.