Our advocacy letter on behalf of Natalie Abuddayeh and companions

On June 2, 2026, Israeli Occupation Forces abducted Natalie Abudayyeh, a member of the Palestinian Women’s National Football Team, and three fellow university student colleagues in or near Birzeit University in the West Bank. Natalie is studying Journalism and Media at Birzeit University. Her arrest typifies Israeli strategy of targeting potentially influential Palestinian journalists and other activists.

Dr. Iman Haddad, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, of which Natalie is a member, calls “on our friends, partners, and siblings in Christ around the world to advocate for Natalie’s freedom using whatever channels are available to them, and to demand an end to this unjust and unequal system of detainment and detention that paralyzes and destroys Palestinian communities.” 

Read CFOS’ letter on behalf of Natalie and her companions: Jolan Abu Awad, Sama Safi and Leila Na’el Khalil.