‘Shhh or I’ll shoot you’: family of jailed Christian woman tell of Israeli raid
The Israeli troops arrived at about 4am last Saturday to take 23-year-old Layan Nasir away at gunpoint from her parents’ home in the West Bank town of Birzeit. There was no arrest warrant or charges, and her parents haven’t been notified of where she is held.
The only Palestinian Christian woman currently in Israeli detention, her case has been raised by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. “I’m shocked and deeply concerned,” he said in a post on X. “Please pray for Layan’s safety and swift release.”
The family’s ordeal began when Layan’s mother, Lulu Aranki Nasir, was woken early in the morning by loud hammering on her door.
“The minute I opened the door, 15 soldiers put their guns in my face and entered the house in a hurry,” she said, in an interview in the family’s living room, dominated by a lifesize poster of Layan on her graduation day.
Aranki Nasir started to ask what the men wanted, and one said “Shhh or I’ll shoot you”, then pointed a loaded gun at her head. When Layan’s father, Sami Nasir, came out of the bedroom, he too was held at gunpoint. A soldier told him: “We are at war, we can do anything.”
After they searched the house, a captain appeared, who gave his name as Meron and told the family he had come for Layan.
She was taken away, blindfolded and handcuffed, about 20 minutes after the soldiers arrived. Aranki Nasir was barred from saying goodbye to her only daughter. “We weren’t allowed to even look at her,” she said, her eyes filling with tears at the memory.
Layan was allowed to speak to her lawyer for 1 minute on the phone the next day. She told him she was in Ofer jail but expected to be moved soon, and Israeli officials were preparing the papers to hold her in administrative detention.
This allows for pre-emptive arrest, on secret evidence, and six-month stints in prison without charge or trial that can be extended indefinitely.
“Can you imagine how fragile our lives under occupation are, that the Israelis can come at any time, to any house, not give any reason, take that person to an unknown place, and keep that person for months in jail without being guilty of anything?” said Xavier Abu Eid, political scientist, former adviser to the PLO and a parishioner at Layan’s church.
“These things are taking place on a daily basis. This is one case that is highlighted for particular reasons, but thousands are in jail.”