Washington D.C. – Truthout, Sept. 02, 2026
Sami Safi’s arrest is part of a “concerted effort to crush the new generation of Palestinian leaders,” her aunt said.
The family of Sama Safi, a Palestinian American student who is being detained in an Israeli prison, has urged the U.S. to do more to secure her release.
Grassroots pressure “has been effective in forcing the U.S. embassy to visit Sama,” Sama’s aunt, Leila Farsakh, told Truthout. The embassy has now visited her twice since her imprisonment in June, and has reported on the poor conditions of her detention. “But we need intervention from the U.S. government to release and protect Sama and all American citizens.”
Sama, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen and psychology student in the occupied West Bank, was detained by Israel along with three other female students of Birzeit University in June, and has been imprisoned without formal charges. The other students detained with Sama are Jolan Abu Awad, Laila Nail Khalil, and Natalie Abu Dayyeh, who is a player on the Palestinian women’s soccer team.
“She was wrongly detained,” said Farsakh, who lives in Boston. “They’ve accused her of belonging to a student group, which she denies.”
Sama is being held in Israel’s Damon Prison, under harsh conditions, and has reported facing verbal abuse at the hands of Israeli soldiers, medical neglect, overcrowding, and the spread of a skin disease among the women being detained.
