SAMAR was born in 1965
in Lebanon and is Lebanese-Palestinian. Her family are rooted in Gaza and Lebanon,
are well known in the Arab world and are prominent in the Palestinian community.
Her father was formerly the head of the Arab Bank in Beirut and her mother was
one of the first women in Lebanon to go to the American University in Beirut.
Samar
first came to Britain in 1983 to finish her schooling at a college in Wales.
She then went to the American University in Beirut and came to live in Britain
with her two sisters in 1984. She obtained a BSc in Chemical Engineering from
University College London in 1987 and an MSc in Chemical Engineering from Imperial
College in 1988. Samar also received an MSc in Water Resources Engineering from
City University in December 1996, having submitted her thesis, on water resources
management in Lebanon, at the end of the trial, just before she was sentenced.
After graduating from UCL,
Samar worked for two years as a trainee graduate engineer. This was followed
by a short period as an environmental engineering consultant and some part-time
work as a health adviser for the immigrant Arab community in Newham in east
London.
She is a well-known women's rights activist and human rights campaigner, devoting
much of her time to voluntary work in support of human rights, particularly
Palestinians'. She was a prominent member of the Palestinian Women's Group and
also later the vice-chairwoman and foreign affairs spokesperson of the General
Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW) in the UK. She was also involved with the
General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS), the Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
the Palestine Community Association, Amnesty International, the Newham Monitoring
Project and the National Women's Network. Samar has also spoken at conferences
about Palestinian culture, music, art and embroidery.
"I condemn the acts [the Israeli Embassy and Balfour House bombings] because
I am against blind violence. I am disappointed there are still problems, there
are still bombings", she says, "One of the reasons we came to London is to avoid
all this trauma."
When Samar was first arrested in January 1995, a huge volume of letters was
received in her support. At the trial she was described as "a much respected,
sensitive and caring woman" by her supporting character references, which included
Lord Gilmour, the former deputy Foreign Secretary who has been a friend of her
family for 30 years.
Samar was 31 when she was convicted and is now in Durham Prison's H-Wing, also
a high security 'Category A' prisoner.
Please write to Samar and jawad at the following addresses to let them know
they have your support:
Samar Alami
No. RL 1436
H-wing
HMP Durham
Old Elvet
Durham DH1 3HU
Jawad Botmeh
No. EP 3888
HMP Frankland
Brasside
Durham DH1 5YD
