A woman's Identity torn between two places

He was born in Gaza where he lived until 1993 when he got married and moved to Ramallah on the West Bank to work there. But since then, Nasri Dabit's identity ordeal and that of his children has never come to an end.

His wife comes from East Jerusalem and therefore has an Israeli identity card. But when she gave birth to her children, none of them was accorded Israeli identity cards. Neither were they granted Palestinian cards.

Prior to the establishment of the Palestinian self-rule territories, the family tried to change its domicile address from Gaza to Ramallah but was faced with repeated Israeli rejections. Usually the family was told to wait until the Palestinian National Authority was introduced and Ramallah was transferred to Palestinian rule. But even after the transfer, the family could not obtain any papers, simply because Israel has had the upper hand.

"When my son, Sami, became 16, I wanted to obtain an Israeli identity card for him, because he was registered in my identity card. But the Israeli authorities rejected the application as well as the application of my second son, Sameh, who also was registered in my identity card," said Maha Dabit complaining about the fact that none of her children could get an identity card because they are neither registered in Gaza nor in Ramallah.

Sami, said his mother, now has a new problem. He cannot sit for his secondary matriculation exams next June without presenting his identity card. When the mother headed to the Palestinian Ministry of Education and complained about her son's problem, she was told to wait and see what will happen by the end of the scholastic year. "Why mix education with politics? Wait and hope that things will get better," she was told.

Last year, Maha's father died in Britain and she had to fly to London leaving her five-month-old infant back at home with relatives "because I could not prove she was my daughter since she was not registered in my Israeli identity card as a former resident of Jerusalem."

So far, it is not clear how or whether Maha's problem will be resolved. But at least, she hopes, the Palestinian general census, that started in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on December 10 would provide some solutions. "I hope my children will finally have the chance to be counted as citizens of our country and eventually get the accreditation they need," she said.