The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed her “great joy” at meeting Layan Nasir, a Palestinian Christian woman who over the last five years, spent three periods in Israeli administrative detention and prison.
26-year-old Layan, who is a member of St Peter’s Anglican Church in Birzeit, in the West Bank, was released from Israel’s Damon Prison in May this year. Her parents, Lula and Sami, welcomed the archbishop to their home during her visit to Birzeit on Sunday.
During their conversation, Layan told the archbishop about her experience and its impact. Archbishop Sarah prayed for her and her family and assured Layan of the prayers of many in the Church of England.
Archbishop Sarah is currently on a five-day pilgrimage through Palestine and Israel with Archbishop Hosam Naoum, the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem. She’s making the pastoral visit to express prayerful solidarity with the Episcopal (Anglican) Diocese of Jerusalem and the wider Palestinian Christian community.
Dame Sarah said: “It was a great joy to meet with Layan Nasir in Birzeit after her release from Israeli prison. I’m grateful to Layan’s family for their hospitality in their home. I will pray for them, and for God’s blessing and healing for Layan after the terrible ordeal of her incarceration. I pray for the release of all people who have been unjustly imprisoned, here in Palestine and Israel and around the world.”
Layan was released from detention without charge after eight months in May 2026. She was first arrested by Israeli armed forces in 2021 in connection with alleged activity with a student organisation during her time at Birzeit University. She was arrested again at gunpoint at her family home in April 2024 and held in administrative detention until her release in December 2024.
Dame Sarah is the first Archbishop of Canterbury to visit the Palestinian Christian town of Birzeit. In a sermon at St Peter’s Anglican Church she thanked the rector, Fr Fadi Diab, and the congregation for their hospitality and recognised the costliness of life for them and their families. She told them she would use her role to seek “the peace you desire and the freedom you deserve”.
Speaking of living faithfully in times of fear, trusting in the promises of Christ, and Christian hope as an act of resistance, she added: “And your faithful, hopeful resistance is also visible as fathers and mothers navigate the web of checkpoints daily to provide an income for their family, or to get their children to school to provide for their future, or as you gather to break bread together week by week in this church. All these acts of faithful resistance point to our hope in Jesus Christ and reflect your ongoing struggle for freedom and dignity.”
Administrative detention is a measure usually used during times of emergency, allowing a person to be held without charge or trial on the basis of a perceived security concern.