Four Anglican bishops have expressed their “deep dismay and disquiet” at the decision of Israeli authorities to arrest a Palestinian Christian who is accused of “promoting terrorist activities”.
Natalie Abu Dayyeh is a student at Birzeit University and is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. On 2 June she was allegedly subject to a violent arrest with three other Palestinian women and placed in detention.
Abu Dayyeh’s case comes less than a month after another Palestinian Christian woman was released by Israeli authorities.
Layan Nasir, a member of St Peter’s Anglican Church in Birzeit, was first arrested in 2021 for allegedly being a member of the Democratic Progressive Student Pole (DPSP), a left-wing group banned by Israel.
She was initially held for two months but was later released on bail. Then in April 2024 she was arrested again and held in administrative detention for eight months on the grounds that she allegedly represented a security threat. No charges were ever brought.
Then in 2025 she was arrested and imprisoned again for uncertain reasons. After another eight months in detention, she was finally released.
On hearing of the arrest of Abu Dayyeh, Bishop Imad Haddad of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land said that the church was “deeply shocked and horrified”, adding that her family did not immediately know where she had been taken.
In a statement, Bishop Haddad said, "We are incredibly disturbed by the reality that Natalie now joins the thousands of Palestinians in Israeli detention without charge or trial.
"Palestinian civilians, including women and children, suffer deep injustice in Israeli military detention and are often held for months or years with no explanation."
He called on Christians around the world to advocate for them.
The Anglican bishops of Chelmsford, Gloucester, Norwich and Southwark have sent a letter of solidarity to Bishop Haddad.
In their letter they speak with concern about the cases of both Abu Dayyeh and Nasir, and the suffering being experienced by their families.
“Although we don’t know the exact circumstances of her [Abu Dayyeh’s] arrest, we know from our efforts praying for and advocating for the release of Layan Nasir … that incarcerating people who have not been convicted or even charged with anything for lengthy periods of time, based on secret ‘evidence’ that they cannot challenge, is an extreme power and one that inflicts incredible torment and suffering on the detained and their family," they said.
The bishops gave assurances of their continued prayers for Abu Dayyeh and said they had raised her case in the House of Lords. They also accused Israel of violating the Geneva Convention by holding her outside of occupied territory.
The letter included a quote from the Psalms: “He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free.”
