On the very day that headlines around the world celebrated a peace accord for Gaza, a quieter, more painful story unfolded for a young Palestinian Christian. Layan Nasir, 25, a nutrition graduate from Birzeit University and member of the Anglican parish of St. Peter in the West Bank, was ordered back to prison by an Israeli military court—her third detention in four years, again without formal charges.
For those who know her, the irony could not be sharper. While diplomats and generals were drafting the language of peace, Layan’s life was once again confined to the silence of a cell. Her story has come to embody the tension between political announcements and lived reality in a land where peace still struggles to take root.
The Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford, the Dr. Guli Francis-Dehqani, who met Layan’s family during a 2024 visit to the Holy Land, has renewed her appeal for prayer and solidarity. “This is devastating news for Layan and her family,” she said. “I invite everyone in our diocese to join me in praying for her release and for an end to this injustice—especially as the world rejoices over the hopeful news from Gaza.”
Since her first arrest in 2021, Layan has become a quiet symbol of endurance among Palestinian Christians. Her previous imprisonment—eight months under “administrative detention,” a system that allows for incarceration without charge or trial—drew criticism from church leaders across England. The bishops of Southwark, Norwich, Gloucester, and Chelmsford wrote to her last August, assuring her of their prayers and calling her ordeal “a cruel interruption to a young life dedicated to service.”
Read more: https://zenit.org/2025/10/15/israels-administrative-detentions-of-palestinian-christians-the-case-of-layan-nasir/
By zenit.org
