40 Democrats Demand Israel Free Sami Safi, US Citizen Detained Without Charges

Dozens of Democrats from both chambers of Congress are demanding the release of U.S. citizen Sami Safi from Israeli prison, where officials have held her for nearly two months without charges.

The Democrats, led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), raised concern over doctors’ assessments that Safi is at risk of “irreversible and life-threatening damage to her internal organs” in Israeli custody. Safi has a chronic and complex autoinflammatory disorder that she typically receives treatment for in Italy. In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the lawmakers demanded that the State Department take immediate action to secure her freedom.

“It is your responsibility to ensure the safety of all Americans abroad, with no exceptions. Her life is at risk on your watch,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was signed by 35 members of the House and six senators, as well as 85 rights and advocacy groups. Tlaib has also held a virtual meeting with Safi’s parents to discuss options for her release, the lawmaker’s office said.

Israeli soldiers raided Safi’s family’s home in the occupied West Bank in the middle of the night on June 2 and arrested her. Safi, who is 20 years old, is a university student who has family in Florida. She is one of several Americans who have been killed or detained by Israeli settlers or soldiers in recent years; just in February, Israeli settlers killed 19-year-old U.S. citizen Nasrallah Abu Siyam in the occupied West Bank.

The lawmakers note that Safi has reported abusive treatment inside Israeli prisons.

“Sama has described the use of serious physical violence by guards against detainees, including frequent physical assault, shackling, and the throwing of gas and stun grenades into already overcrowded and poorly ventilated cells,” the lawmakers wrote. “She describes being subjected to repeated verbal abuse and being placed in painful stress positions, as well as the presence of rapidly spreading infectious skin disease, rats, and mattresses reeking of feces.”

Israeli officials have also been refusing to give Safi the medication that she needs daily after she returned to prison following a brief medical release on August 16, according to the letter. Torture methods like stress positions have made her condition worse, causing “severe rheumatoid and chest pain,” the lawmakers wrote.

Safi was being held in the notorious Ofer military prison in June, where detainees have reported systemic torture and abuse, and was then moved to the Damon military prison in Israel — a transfer that lawmakers said violates the Geneva Convention. Like more than 3,300 other Palestinians, Safi is being held without charges. Her lawyer says the Israeli prosecution’s only evidence against her is that her name allegedly appeared on a list of a student organization, al-Qutub, which Israel says has ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Israel also detained other students, Natalie Abu Diah, Leila Khalil, and Joulan Abu Awad, in pre-dawn raids on June 2.

Experts say Trump administration officials have the power to pressure Israel to release Safi and other U.S. citizens. U.S. lawmakers had also demanded that the administration take action last year to secure the release of U.S. citizen Mohammed Ibrahim, who turned 16 while in Israeli custody. Israeli officials held him for nearly 10 months, barring him from seeing his family until he was released in November.