Held Without Charge: Webinar
Tuesday 21st January, 6pm (UK)
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At 4:00am on Saturday the 6th April 2024, Layan Nasir was taken away at gunpoint from her parents’ home in the West Bank town of Birzeit, after 15 soldiers burst into her house to arrest her.

She was held without charge on administrative detention in Damon women’s prison until her release shortly before Christmas. Since 7th October 2023, Israel has arrested or detained over 14,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem and the West Bank and countless more from Gaza.

Currently, over 3,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem are held without charge on rolling administrative detention. Many of these have been detained for posts on social media or at ‘flying’ Israeli checkpoints. 

Layan’s case gained international attention, including condemnation by the Archbishop of Canterbury, as she was the only Palestinian Christian woman in Israeli detention. 

Even before 7th October 2023, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he wanted harsher conditions for Palestinian prisoners. That has become a reality, exacerbated by overcrowding.

Currently, over 3,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem are held without charge on rolling administrative detention. Many of these have been detained for posts on social media or at flying Israeli checkpoints. 

The UN, human rights organisations and the media have documented widespread reports of abuse in Israeli jails, including torture and rape, since 7th October.

Layan and Tala Masir, a lawyer at Addammeer Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, will join us to discuss Layan’s experience and that of thousands of other Palestinians in the Israeli judicial system. They will discuss the appalling conditions in Israeli jails and the widespread hunger, physical, sexual and psychological abuse of Palestinian prisoners — including children, as well as Tala’s work at Addameer.

Layan Nasir

Layan Nasir (pictured above) is a former Palestinian detainee. She was held in Israeli prisons under administrative detention for 8 months before she was recently released on 5th December 2024. 

Layan was also detained in 2021 and spent around 2 months in Israeli jails. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from Birzeit University.

Tala Nasir

Tala Nasir is a human rights lawyer at Addameer for Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. She holds a master’s degree in law from Birzeit University.
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Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

Addameer (the Arabic word for Conscience) is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution that works to support Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian prisons.

Established in 1991 by a group of activists interested in human rights, the centre offers free legal aid to political prisoners, advocates their rights at the national and international levels and works to end torture and other violations of prisoners’ rights through monitoring, legal procedures and solidarity campaigns.