LAYAN NASIR, a Palestinian Anglican who was detained by Israeli forces in April, has been released to scenes of jubilation in her home town, Birzeit, in the West Bank.
On Thursday afternoon, her parents received a phone call to say that she had been released. They drove to collect her from Jenin, where she had been transferred from a prison near Haifa, outside the West Bank.
Ms Nasir had been held for eight months under “administrative detention” — a mechanism that the Israeli authorities use in the occupied West Bank to incarcerate individuals indefinitely without charge or trial, on the basis that they are purported to be a security threat (News, 1 May, 28 June).
Any evidence held on people in administrative detention is kept secret; so no explanation of Ms Nasir’s detention has been given to her lawyer or her family.
She was welcomed home on Thursday evening. The Church Times understands that she is in good physical health, although there are, as yet, no details of her treatment in prison.
While in prison, Ms Nasir was unable to speak with her parents, and had only very brief and infrequent conversations with her lawyer.
The Dean of St George’s College in Jerusalem, the Very Revd Canon Richard Sewell, said that he was “absolutely overjoyed” at the news of her release. There had been a “great celebratory party” in Birzeit, “with people travelling from all over the region to share in the joyous news”, he said.
A number of Church of England bishops have advocated Ms Nasir’s release, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, in July, described her detention as “egregious” (News, 2 August).
Archbishop Welby said that administrative detention was being used as an “instrument of occupation”, and that it could not be “legally or morally justified”. He also suggested that Ms Nasir’s transfer outside the West Bank, to Damon Prison, was a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Archbishop Welby met members of Ms Nasir’s family, who live in Birzeit, and are part of the Anglican community at St Peter’s, Birzeit.
Other C of E bishops to have met Ms Nasir’s family and called for her release include the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek (News, 28 June), and the Bishop of Kingston, the Rt Revd Martin Gainsborough (Comment, 7 November).
On Thursday afternoon, the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, said that she was “delighted and relieved” to hear the news. “[It] will mean so much to her family, her church community, and all who have been praying for her,” she said.
Dr Francis-Dehqani met Ms Nasir’s family in May, during a trip to Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank (Podcast, 16 May). She has kept a candle burning in her chapel since her visit, and, on Thursday, said that she had been praying for Ms Nasir every day.
When it was confirmed that Ms Nasir was at home with her family, she would extinguish the candle, she said. “But my prayers will continue for peace with justice for all those affected by this conflict. . . In amidst the constant stream of challenging news, my prayer is that this will be a sign of hope for others waiting to be reunited with loved ones.”
Statistics released in the summer suggest that more than 3000 Palestinians are held in administrative detention. Before the conflict, which began on 7 October 2023, the number of people was in the hundreds.