ReThinking Foreign Policy is proud to be one of 85 organizations supporting Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for the immediate and permanent release of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American student with a severe chronic health condition, from Israeli military prison. The letter was signed by forty members of Congress, including six senators.
It is absurd and obscene that every member of Congress did not sign this letter, demanding that an American citizen being held prisoner for nearly three months without any charges having been brought against her.
On June 2, in the middle of the night, Sama was torn from her family’s home in the occupied West Bank as part of a series of raids targeting Birzeit University students.
Following are excerpts of Tlaib’s press release. You can find the full release here. You can find the letter and the full list of signatories here.
“Every day that Sama remains wrongfully detained in these inhumane conditions, she is at greater risk of irreversible and life-threatening repercussions,” the Members wrote to Secretary Rubio. “It is your responsibility to ensure the safety of all Americans abroad, with no exceptions. Her life is at risk on your watch. We urge you to act swiftly and use every tool at your disposal to secure the immediate release of Sama Safi so that she can receive the medical care she urgently needs and return to her family, her studies, and the life and freedom that every 20-year-old deserves.”
Sama has described horrific conditions and violence by guards in Israeli military detention, including frequent physical assault, gas and stun grenades thrown in overcrowded cells, and lack of food and water. Every day, thousands of Palestinians in Israeli detention are subjected to these conditions as part of what the United Nations Committee Against Torture described as “a de facto State policy of organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment.”
“Such wretched conditions and treatment have caused Sama’s health to rapidly decline to dangerous levels in detention. Sama suffers from a severe and complex chronic medical condition known as Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), which requires regular monitoring, daily medication, and recurring specialized biologic treatment abroad,” the Members wrote. “Sama has reported receiving her medication inconsistently, resulting in several missed doses. Stress positions and shackling have exacerbated her condition, causing severe rheumatoid and chest pain. Her doctors have warned that with her continued military detention and ‘being constantly exposed to conditions that exacerbate her inflammatory status, the possibility of progressive tissue injury and irreversible organ damage is our greatest concern.’”