Palestinian woman of Anglican faith, who was detained last year by Israel, receives a 7.5-month prison sentence.
In the occupied West Bank, a 25-year-old Anglican Palestinian woman named Layan Nasir finds herself in the midst of a contentious legal battle. Nasir, a member of St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birzeit, has been given a prison sentence of seven and a half months by an Israeli court for routine activities that took place four years ago when she was a student at Birzeit University. The hearing on those charges was postponed from Sept. 7 to Nov. 23, and the hearing took place without her, resulting in a guilty verdict without a trial. The Very Rev. Richard Sewell, dean of St. George's College in Jerusalem, has expressed his concern over the case. He posted his support for Layan Nasir on his Facebook page and has been working alongside other supporters to explore possible avenues to reverse the erroneous decision to imprison her. Melodie Woerman, a freelance reporter based in Kansas, has been following the story closely. She reported that the Israeli military prosecution rejected all proposed alternatives to incarceration. The Very Rev. Sewell stated that the process offers no visible sense of justice for Layan Nasir. Layan Nasir spent eight months in administrative detention by the Israeli government last year and was released on Dec. 5, 2024. Four Church of England bishops have contacted both the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom and the British government, urging them to speak out about Layan Nasir's case. The bishops asked the Israeli military court to make a fair and just decision that did not include incarceration for Layan Nasir. They met with her during recent trips to the Holy Land and have published their concerns in the Church Times. Rev. Don Binder, a supporter of Layan Nasir, stated that the decision to imprison her lacks any legal or moral justification. The date when her sentence will begin has been delayed until November, for unknown reasons. Nasir is now a full-time community worker at the YMCA, and her first responsibility remains supporting her and her family during this difficult time.
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