https://www.change.org/p/free-layan-kayed
In the early morning hours of 7 June 2023, Occupation forces arrested Birzeit University graduate student and anti-occupation activist Layan Kayed after raiding her home. Layan formerly spent 16 months in Occupation jails after being targeted and arrested in 2020. She was later charged for her student organizing at Birzeit University.
The targeting of Layan and Palestinian student organisers indicates that the student movement continues to play a critical role in the Palestinian national struggle. The ruling against Layan by the Occupation’s illegitimate military appeals court stated that student groups constitute a “security threat”.
The student movement at Birzeit is active and the student union elections there have historically been a metric for understanding where the Palestinian public in the West Bank stands as they are otherwise deprived of elections. Located near Ramallah, the political centre of the Palestinian Authority, the Birzeit student movement has been campaigning against repression by both Israeli occupation forces and the Palestinian Authority.
For these reasons, the Zionist regime regularly attacks Palestinian student organisers, attempting to deny students the right to form democratic structures and collective power which naturally threaten their own illegitimate power.
We the undersigned stand with Layan Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners and student leaders. Layan’s steadfastness and leadership demonstrates that the students and youth continue to lead the resistance against the Zionist regime.
We demand Layan Kayed’s immediate release and the release of all Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons.
