THE detention of a young Anglican from the West Bank is an example of the “deeply discriminatory” use of administrative detention by the Israeli authorities, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
His statement on Tuesday followed news that an Israeli military court had renewed the executive detention of Layan Nasir, a 23-year-old Anglican taken at gunpoint from her parents’ home in April (News, 12 April, 3 May).
“This young Palestinian Christian from Birzeit, within the West Bank, has been held in detention since 6 April on classified evidence that leaves her facing unknown allegations with no solution to disapprove them — not knowing when she might be released, on a regular basis without being charged, tried, or convicted,” he said. “This is an egregious state of affairs, as is the undeniable fact that her transfer outside the West Bank to Damon Prison is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
“I ask the Israeli Government to look again at her case, and that she be released. The widespread and routine manner through which Israel uses administrative detention of Palestinians as an instrument of Occupation is deeply discriminatory. It can’t be legally or morally justified.”
The statement follows an advisory opinion, issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month, which concluded that Palestinians within the occupied territories were subject to “systemic discrimination” (News, 26 July). On Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Office within the Occupied Palestinian Territory raised concerns in regards to the “forced eviction” of greater than 80 Palestinians from their homes within the Silwan area of occupied East Jerusalem, “facilitated by the illegal application of discriminatory Israeli laws against Palestinians within the occupied territory”.
In the past week, the Archbishop has also called for an end to the “devastating cycle of violence” within the region, within the wake of killing of youngsters within the region. “There isn’t any justification for killing children — whether in Palestine, Israel, or Lebanon,” he wrote on social media. He referred specifically to the killing of youngsters at a Druze village of Majdal Shams, within the Golan Heights, and on the Khadija school in Gaza.
The British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has attributed the primary incident to Hezbollah, describing the deaths as “the consequence of indiscriminate firing and paying no heed in any respect to civilian life”. Addressing MPs last week, he said that scenes on the Khadija school “underline the desperate conditions endured by civilians”. Palestinian authorities reported on Saturday that not less than 30 Palestinians had been killed in an Israeli air-strike on the varsity, which was housing displaced people.
In a response to the attack within the Golan Heights, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a press release on behalf of the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land: “The cycle of violence must end. We urge all parties to hunt understanding and mutual respect, for the longer term of our kids and communities will depend on it. Enough with this violence, hatred, and contempt. . .
“The future of youngsters and the welfare of our communities hinge upon our ability to transcend hatred and to embrace the principles of compassion and coexistence.”
Calls for a ceasefire were repeated by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church within the United States, the Most Revd Michael Curry, last week. In a letter to President Biden, which coincided with the visit to Congress of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bishop Curry wrote: “We recognize your longstanding support of Israel, but call on you to acknowledge that we cannot proceed with this level of impunity, with assurances of change but ongoing violence and killing of civilians, targeting of medical facilities and staff, and bombing of refugee camps, U.N. facilities, and hospitals. Please take this moment and use the facility of the U.S. government to make sure Israel makes meaningful changes and to push forward a way of peace within the region.”
In the UK, the Government is facing calls to suspend the sale of armaments to Israel. On Monday, the Times reported that a call had been delayed, “because ministers are searching for to suspend export licences for specific weapons that they’ll link to suspected war crimes”. Investigations were expected to take weeks.
On Friday of last week, the Board of Deputies expressed concern that reports of such a call might signal a “significant shift in policy, away from Israel being a key UK ally”, referring to, as well as, the choice to revive funding to UNWRA (News, 29 January), and news that the Government wouldn’t be pursuing the UK’s original objection to the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over the present Israel-Gaza conflict (News, 24 May).
Mr Netanyahu has said that there could be no everlasting ceasefire until Hamas had been destroyed. On Thursday of last week, Israeli media reported that the bodies of 5 more hostages, 4 men and a girl, had been recovered by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in Khan Yunis. On Wednesday, Hamas reported that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had been assassinated in Iran.
The UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction co-ordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, spoke last week of the “horrendous maelstrom of human misery” within the enclave.
Last week, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee announced that it had decided to incorporate the Monastery of Saint Hilarion (Tell Umm Amer), in Gaza, on the World Heritage List, and the List of World Heritage in Danger. One of the oldest sites within the Middle East, it was founded within the fourth century by Saint Hilarion, and was home to the primary monastic community within the Holy Land.
