Bushra al-Tawil or Bushra al-Taweel () is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

journalist, former Palestinian prisoner and prisoners' rights activist from

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

who has frequently been held under

administrative detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...

without charge by Israel. She is the spokesperson for the Aneen Al-Qaid Media Network, a local news agency specialized in covering news about the Palestinian detainees, and political prisoners.

Education and career

Al-Tawil began studying journalism after she was first detained and released again by the Israeli authorities in 2011. She elected to study journalism and photography at the Modern University College in Ramallah, and graduated in 2013. She went on to found the “Aneen ALQaid” news network, which looks at Palestinian captives, the experiences of their families, and the rights of female captives in Israeli prisons.

Arrests and detention

Al-Tawil was arrested in 2011 at the age of 18 by Israeli authorities and sentenced to 16 months in prison but freed five months later as part of the

Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange (; ), also known as Wafa al-Ahrar () ("Faithful to the free"), followed a 2011 agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1027 prisoners — almost all Palestinia ...

. On July 1, 2014 she was rearrested and had her former sentence reimposed by a military court, she served the remainder eleven months in prison. She was released in May 2015. On November 1, 2017, she was arrested and on November 7 ordered to

, incarceration without trial or charge. She spent eight months in prison. On December 11, 2019, she was arrested, after Israeli soldiers raided the Umm Al-Sharayet neighbourhood in

al-Bireh Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira (; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a city in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Gove ...

. The arrest came less than a week after the release of her father, who had been held in administrative detention for two years. She was sentenced to administrative detention on December 16, for which she was held in the Hasharon prison in northern Israel. On November 8, 2020, she was arrested on the road from

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

, and in March 2021 her period of administrative detention was extended by four months. Her father, a former mayor of

Al-Bireh Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira (; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a city in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Gove ...

and a Hamas leader, began a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

demanding his daughter's release. Al-Tawil credited her father's strike for her release. She was arrested on March 22, 2022, in

Family

Al-Tawil's father is Jamal al-Tawil, a prominent

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

leader, former mayor of

, and former prisoner and has spent many years in prison. She has three brothers.

References

External links

Bushra al-Taweel
, February 20, 2018. Addameer. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tawil, Bushra Palestinian hunger strikers Imprisoned journalists Living people Palestinian human rights activists Women human rights activists Palestinian women activists Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel People from Al-Bireh Palestinian women journalists 21st-century Palestinian journalists Year of birth missing (living people) People from Ramallah Political prisoners in Israel Palestinian photojournalists Prisoners' rights activists