By Fayha Shalash – Ramallah

Lulu Nasser lives on the daily hope that her 23-year-old daughter, Layan, will return to the warmth of her home in Birzeit, north of Ramallah.

Despite her young age, Layan has been arrested by Israeli occupation forces twice already.  

On April 7, the Israeli army stormed Layan’s house and searched it. The family had no idea that the purpose of the raid would be to arrest their daughter again.

Layan’s mother told the Palestine Chronicle that she had a strange feeling about the raid, but was nonetheless shocked when the Israeli officer asked for her daughter’s identity card, only to inform her that she was under arrest.

“I told him to leave her alone, she had not done anything,” she begged the soldier. “But of course, he didn’t care about my tears that flowed out of sadness and oppression.”

Layan was arrested for the first time in July 2021. At the time, she was a student at Birzeit University and Israel’s intelligence services accused her of participating in union activities and helping students.

Three months after her arrest, the court approved Layan’s release request on the condition that she continued to appear in court for her trial sessions. 

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This is what she did. She continued to attend the court sessions every few months so as not to be rearrested.

However, this did not prevent her second arrest under administrative detention. 

Being under administrative detention meant that the young woman not only ignored any charges against her, but also had no knowledge of how long she would remain in prison.

“My tears don’t dry over her absence. She is the heart of the house with her smile and generosity,” Layan’s mother said.

“Her twin Basil is very sad without his sister, she is our only daughter among three children,” she added.

“I think about her every moment, especially since the conditions of detention this time are different. Female prisoners are clearly humiliated and we are prevented from visiting her or even talking to her.”

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Violation of International Law

Israel has intensified its campaign of administrative detention orders against   Palestinian prisoners, including women.

These orders are based on undisclosed files. Palestinian detainees do not know what are they accused of and Israeli authorities can renew the detention order numerous times in the absence of a trial.

When held under an administrative detention order, even the detainee’s lawyer is denied access to the undisclosed file.

This arbitrary measure against Palestinian detainees is in violation of international laws, which deem administrative detention as an emergency measure used only in very specific cases against people who cannot be easily arrested.

This is certainly not in Israel’s case since the occupation authorities hold mothers, university students, children, the elderly, and the sick under administrative detention.

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Policy of Revenge

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, 27 female prisoners are being held under administrative detention, which is a record number and a stark indication of the escalation of this policy that targets all Palestinians, including women.

Amani Sarhneh, the organization’s spokeswoman, told the Palestine Chronicle that at present there are 3,398 administrative detainees in Israeli prisons.

She said this record number was never registered historically until after the start of the genocidal assault on Gaza a year ago.  

“Female university students is the group most targeted under this type of detention, in addition to female journalists, human rights activists, or even sisters of Palestinian prisoners,” Sarhneh explained.

According to the spokeswoman, the goal behind the increase in this type of detention is an Israeli attempt to undermine any effective individual in Palestinian society.
“The danger is that Israel is using this arrest as a tool to control and impose higher supervision on Palestinian society,” Sarhneh stated, “and it is nothing more than a policy of revenge against the Palestinians at large.”

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The Role of Israeli Courts

According to the Palestinian Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs, the majority of Palestinian detainees are transferred to administrative detention without charge.

In a statement issued on the seventh month of the genocide on Gaza, after its legal team thoroughly investigated thousands of files, the Commission concluded that after October 7, the Israeli military courts were the main arm in implementing and enforcing the administrative detention orders.

According to the group’s legal team, the courts played a pivotal role in consolidating the crime of administrative detention and contributing to supporting Israeli intelligence in implementing more arrests.
“Applying to the occupation courts, at their various levels, specifically in the case of administrative detention, is useless. It rather contributes to giving a kind of legitimacy to these unjust courts,” the organization said.

The Commission also confirmed the ineffectiveness of resorting to the Supreme Court, and all other Israeli courts, due to their role in consolidating the crime of administrative detention.