EPF PIN celebrates release of Layan Nasir
The Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network (EPF PIN) celebrates with relief the December 5 release of Layan Nasir from administrative detention in an Israeli jail. Nasir, a 24-year-old Palestinian woman from the occupied West Bank village of Birzeit, was detained on April 7, 2024, by Israeli military forces who took her from her home and transported her to an Israeli prison.
The 81st General Convention passed resolution D075 “The Immediate Release of Ms. Layan Nasir, 24 from Administrative Detention in Israel”, condemning her detention and imprisonment and calling for her release. Nasir had been detained previously in 2021 reportedly for her non-violent organizing activities as a student at Birzeit University. Following several months of detention at that time, Nasir was released, completed her studies at Birzeit University, and was beginning a career when she was detained without warning in April. Throughout both detentions, officials of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, Archbishop Justin Welby, and others across the world called for her release.
As is typical in cases of Israel’s administrative detention of Palestinians, no charges were ever publicly filed against Nasir. According to the Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem, “Administrative detention is incarceration without trial or charge…It has no time limit, and the evidence on which it is based is not disclosed. Israel employs this measure extensively and routinely, and has used it to hold thousands of Palestinians for lengthy periods of time.” Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, reports that 3443 Palestinians were held in administrative detention as of November 19, 2024, a nearly tripled number since October 2023. Defense for Children International Palestine reports that the number of children detained has quadrupled in the last year. While mostly practiced against Palestinians, some Jewish settlers in the West Bank had been detained, but recently the Israeli Defense Minister ended that practice for settlers, leaving it only applicable to Palestinians.
Ms. Nasir’s release was almost coincident with a report from Amnesty International that its investigation has concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Amnesty’s report joins those of other human rights organizations and legal tribunals that have found that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute or plausibly constitute genocide.
While EPF PIN welcomes Nasir’s release, we recognize that the foundational injustice of Israel’s occupation and genocidal assault on Gaza continues unabated, indeed escalated. EPF PIN will continue to strive for just peace for Palestinians.