During a five-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally has visited Layan Nasir, a 26-year-old Palestinian Anglican who, over the past five years, has spent three periods in Israeli jails.
Dame Sarah expressed her “great joy” at meeting Layan who is a member of St Peter’s Anglican Church in the university town of Birzeit near Ramallah in the West Bank, after her release from Israel’s Damon Prison in May.
Her parents, Lula and Sami, welcomed the head of the Church of England to their home.
After hearing from Layan about her experience of being arrested at gunpoint without charge by heavily armed Israeli soldiers, Dame Sarah prayed for her and her family and assured Layan of the prayers of many in the greater Anglican Church.
ARCHBISHOP: “I WILL PRAY FOR HEALING AFTER THE TERRIBLE ORDEAL OF HER INCARCERATION”
“I’m grateful to Layan’s family for their hospitality in their home,” said the Archbishop after her visit.
“I will pray for them, and for God’s blessing and healing for Layan, after the terrible ordeal of her incarceration.”
“I pray for the release of all people who have been unjustly imprisoned, here in Palestine and Israel, and around the world.”
Layan was put in ‘administrative detention’ which is a measure usually used during times of emergency, allowing a person to be held without charge or trial, on the basis of a perceived security concern.
AFTER LAYAN SPENT THREE TERMS IN JAIL, MORE PALESTINIAN FEMALE STUDENTS HAVE BEEN ARRESTED.
She was released from detention without charge last month after spending the previous eight months in an Israeli jail.
She was first arrested by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 2021 in connection with alleged activity with a student organisation during her time at Birzeit University.
She was arrested again at gunpoint at her family home in April 2024 and held in administrative detention until her release in December 2024.
This month, four more female students from Birzeit University were arrested without charge, including another Christian Natalie Abu Dayyeh from the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
TWO PALESTINE FOOTBALL SQUAD MEMBERS AMONG LATEST ARRESTS
Natalie was also a former member of the Palestine national football team squad along with Rand al-Halawani who was also arrested.
20-year-old Rand who is one of Palestine’s most promising players was released after nearly a week in detention.
Another of those arrested was 20-year-old Palestinian-American psychology student Sama Safi.
The Israeli military said she and the three other women were arrested “for promoting hostile terrorist activity and additional terrorist-related activities”.
Several US legislators have called for Sama’s release after her family flagged she has a chronic medical condition that requires regular treatment.
ARCHBISHOP DELIVERED SERMON IN PALESTINIAN CHURCH
Dame Sarah is the first Archbishop of Canterbury to visit the Palestinian Christian town of Birzeit.
During a sermon she delivered at the town’s St Peter’s Anglican Church Dame Sarah thanked the rector and the congregation for their hospitality and recognised the costliness of life for them and their families.
She told them she would use her role to seek “the peace you desire and the freedom you deserve”.
WHAT DAME SARAH SAID IN HER SERMON
Speaking of living faithfully in times of fear, trusting in the promises of Christ and Christian hope as an act of resistance, Dame Sarah said: “Your faithful, hopeful resistance is also visible as fathers and mothers navigate the web of checkpoints daily.”
“[This helps] provide an income for their family, or get their children to school to provide for their future, or as you gather to break bread together, week by week in this church.”
“All these acts of faithful resistance point to our hope in Jesus Christ and reflect your ongoing struggle for freedom and dignity.
“I WILL USE MY ROLE TO SEEK THE PEACE YOU DESIRE AND THE FREEDOM YOU DESERVE”
In her sermon, she told the congregation she would use her role as Archbishop to seek “the peace you desire and the freedom you deserve”.
Acknowledging that “faithfulness can be costly”, Archbishop Mullally lamented that 2,000 years after the birth of Christ “you are now facing so many barriers to practising your faith and living freely”.
“I hope that, through my visit, you may also know that you are not forgotten by the wider Body of Christ.”
“The Church is called to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep.”
“The Church stands with you in your right to live in freedom and dignity.”
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