From a Palestinian mother to the world: “Bring my daughter home”
International
Approximately 3,615 Palestinians are being detained by Israeli authorities, including 40 children and 20 women — Lulu Aranki-Nasir’s 24-year-old Anglican daughter, Layan, is just one of these Palestinians
Lulu Aranki-Nasir can’t tell the story without crying and recalling lots of pain—but she wants the world to know.
On 7 April, in the darkness at four in the morning, armed vehicles pulled up to her home, where she, her husband, and her daughter, Layan, were sleeping in their home in the town of Birzeit in the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers were banging on the door. “We woke up,” said Lulu. “My daughter was calling for me.”
That night began what has now become four months of imprisonment for Layan—and day after day of anxiety and grief coupled with sheer determination from her mother.
Looking back, Lulu is thankful, that her sons were not there that night. “Fortunately, my sons were not home because my eldest son is a doctor, and my younger son, Layan’s twin brother, was traveling to Istanbul for a vacation,” she said. “If they were at home, the soldiers would have treated them very badly.”
When Lulu opened the door, the soldiers entered the house. “I started asking them: what do you want from me?” Lulu said. “A solider told me ‘Don’t talk or we will shoot you’ and he put the gun on my face.”
Other soldiers went through the house. “Everywhere, they searched,” said Lulu. “Then they asked us to put our hands on the wall.”
Layan’s parents were also told not to move or talk. So they didn’t.
“We didn’t want to make trouble for us or our daughter,” said Lulu. “Then the captain told us he was taking Layan with him.” The soldiers showed no arrest warrant for Layan and no warrant to search the home.
Layan, who was sitting in her room, asked to change from her pajamas into her clothes. “He brought a woman soldier who stayed with Layan when she was putting her clothes on,” said Lulu. “Then he blindfolded her and handcuffed her.”
As Lulu recalls watching her helpless daughter taken away, she breaks down when she tries to describe how she felt. “She was very weak at that moment,” said Lulu, who wept at the memory.
From that moment on, Layan has been held in what is defined as “administrative detention” without any charges. “They blame that she is a danger for the security of the Israeli state,” said Lulu. “How come this young lady is a danger to the Israeli state?”
A deafening silence
The lack of communication with her daughter hangs like a weight on Lulu’s shoulders. In four months, she has been allowed to talk to Layan two times.
“The lawyer tries to ask for a visit,” said Lulu. “He is not allowed to stay for more than 15-20 minutes.” The meetings are conducted in the presence of Israeli security officers, which violates basic principles of due process of the law and human rights.
Leaders from Layan’s Anglican church have also been denied visits. Layan’s parents have shared her story with World Council of Churches (WCC) moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm and WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, who called for the immediate release of Layan and other unjustly detained Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Lulu worries about Layan’s health in prison.
“Inside the prison, the quantity of food is a very small portion for each prisoner,” said Lulu. “My strong call to the churches is not only to press to bring my daughter home but also to press their governments to make the prison situation better,” she said. “The prisoners are suffering. There is no food.”
She has also received some good news: “We have heard Layan gives a very positive energy to all the prisoners,” said Lulu. “One of the prisoners is very sick and Layan helps her.”
In her own mind, Lulu is imprisoned in a home without her daughter’s presence. “I cannot enter her room because I am too sad,” she said.
“My eldest son got a chance to go to USA to specialize in internal medicine in Atlanta.”
Layan’s older brother had to leave without saying goodbye to his sister. Her twin brother, who used to commute to work with her, sharing a car, now goes alone each day. Layan, a university graduate with a degree in nutrition and a minor in business administration, worked in a women’s development non-governmental organization before she was detained.
How many more days?
Lulu is asking the world to pray for her strength and courage as she counts the days that her daughter has been gone. “I’m not sure she will be out in December,” she said. “They may renew her staying in prison.
“She turned 24 on May 20—in prison—with no visits,” said Lulu. Her twin brother didn’t celebrate his birthday, either, out of solidarity with his sister.
When the profound emptiness threatens to overwhelm her, Lulu recalls joyful events of the past: birthday parties, Layan’s games of basketball and soccer, and simple family dinners.
“When I feel sad, I also pray,” she said. “I pray to God to help me be strong. Layan has a strong personality—and she has a sweet heart. I have to have the courage for her.”
Approximately 3,615 Palestinians are held in administrative detention, including 40 children and 20 women. A Palestinian can be arrested by Israel based on secret information, which cannot be accessed by the detainee or a lawyer; without trial; and without having committed an offense, on the grounds that he or she plans to break the law in the future. There is no legal limit on the overall time that a person can be held in administrative detention, so the detention can be extended over and over.
First published on the World Council of Churches Website on 9 August 2024.
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