Aisha Odeh

Aisha Odeh (, ; born 1944) is a Palestinian writer. As a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), she was sentenced to life imprisonment after she participated in a 1969 supermarket bombing that killed two Israelis. Odeh received an early release in 1979 and has since remained an active participant in Palestinian organisations. She has published three books including an autobiography that details allegations of abuse during her imprisonment.

Odeh was the recipient of the Ibn Rushd Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2015.

Early life Odeh was born in Deir Jarir where she attended primary school.

Bombing and imprisonment On 21 February 1969, Odeh planted a bomb in a Jerusalem supermarket that resulted in the deaths of two Israeli students.

On 1 March 1969, Odeh was arrested by Israeli forces; She details the events of her imprisonment in her memoir, أحلام بالحرية (Dreams of Freedom), including allegations of sexual violence, harassment and rape by her Israeli captors.

On 14 March 1979, Odeh was freed as part of a prisoner exchange agreement but was repatriated to Jordan. The Ibn Rushd Prize 2015 had called for: "An author of a work of prison literature which stimulates a broad public debate on the situation of political prisoners, showing oppression and violation of human rights and demanding the right for liberty and human dignity in the Arab world."

Organisational memberships Odeh has been a member of the Palestinian National Council since 1981 and the Palestinian Writers' Union since 2005.