A Palestinian woman jailed after taking part in a protest outside the US Consulate General in İstanbul against Washington’s support for Israel’s destruction of Gaza was taken from prison to a police station and then put in deportation proceedings, according to her lawyer and her husband, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Bianet news website.
Esraa Mohammad Awad Aljamal, who has lived in Turkey for nine years, joined the September 17, 2025, protest after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made remarks defending Israel’s actions in Gaza and was detained the next morning when police raided her home along with her Egyptian husband, Onur Azad, and one of his friends.
Prosecutors accused the three of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the consulate. After four days in custody, they were jailed pending trial on September 21.
Aljamal’s parents and sister, who were in Turkey to visit her and did not join the protest, were also taken into custody and later deported and barred from re-entering Turkey, the report said.
Months later, prosecutors charged Aljamal, Azad and their friend with damaging property, possessing dangerous materials without permission, using explosive materials in a way that could create fear or panic and insulting a foreign state’s flag.
The case was heard at the İstanbul 19th Criminal Court. Azad and his friend were released at the first hearing after spending six months in jail, while Aljamal remained behind bars in Marmara Prison in Silivri.
At the final hearing on April 21, defense lawyer Gülden Sönmez said the evidence was not enough to establish the facts of the case. She said the court had not heard witnesses, Aljamal’s fingerprints were not found on the bottle cited in the file and there was no evidence Azad or his friend had aided any crime.
Sönmez said Aljamal, a Palestinian who had lost friends and relatives in Gaza, went to the consulate to protest US support for what she described as Israel’s genocide. She also said the incident caused no real material damage and that only a small patch of grass was affected.
The court did not convict Aljamal on the charge of using explosive materials and acquitted her of insulting a foreign state’s flag. But it sentenced her to four years, two months in prison and fined her 41,600 Turkish lira on the charge of possessing dangerous materials without permission. It also gave her a one year, eight month sentence for property damage, then suspended that sentence for five years.
The court ordered her release under a travel ban and said the Interior Ministry should be notified so deportation proceedings could begin after the execution of her sentence.
Azad and his friend were each sentenced to 10 months in prison for property damage, with those sentences suspended.
But Aljamal was not released after the hearing. Instead, she was taken first to a police station and then into removal proceedings, with plans to transfer her to the Arnavutköy Removal Center for deportation, according to Bianet.
Her case adds to concerns that Palestinians and their relatives in Turkey face detention, deportation and prolonged legal pressure after protesting US backing for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
A 2025 report by United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese argued that third states, including Turkey, have helped sustain what she described as genocide in Gaza through trade and material support.
Critics accuse President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of hypocrisy, saying that while he presents himself as a defender of Palestinians and condemns Israel’s actions in Gaza, Turkey has continued to allow trade that can support Israel’s military operations.
