Fatma’s wrinkled face reveals the sorrow of a mother who has not seen her daughter for eleven years.
Fatma Khalil Mubarak (78) lives in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. Her
daughter, Lamees Ahmad Mubarak (44), has been living in Hebron in the West Bank
since she got married in 1988. The last time Fatma saw her daughter was in
2002. Since then, Lamees has been trying to visit her family in Gaza, but she
has been denied access every time she applied for a visitor permit to travel
via Beit Hanoun (“Erez”) crossing. Beit Hanoun crossing is the only access
point for people from Gaza to travel to the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, and/or Israel.
Fatma explains: “My daughter Lamees went to Hebron with her husband when she got married
in the ‘80s. She used to visit me frequently, and I used to visit her as my
health condition was much better and crossing to the West Bank was much easier.
However, since the Second Intifada, we haven’t seen much of her. The last time
she came was in 2002, but she has never been able to come back again
since.”
Several attempts have
been made by both Lamees and her family to reunite since 2002; however, Lamees’
applications for a visitor permit to the Gaza Strip have always been met with
refusal. “This year, we have applied twice so far, but in vain. The permit
was refused again. We have not given up yet. I will keep applying for a permit
to see my daughter until the day I die.”
Fatma’s urge to see
her daughter gets stronger every day, especially due to her deteriorating
medical condition as she suffers from heart disease and hepatitis. “I do
not know why I’m deprived of seeing my daughter,” she adds. “She is my
daughter and she only wants to come and visit me as I am very ill. Why is she
always refused entry? She is not a threat to their security. She only wants to
come so I can see her.”
“We have tried
everything. The last time we applied, we attached a copy of my medical report
certified by the doctors to attest to how poor my condition is, but even that
did not work. The Israeli authorities refused to give her a permit again. We
all thought that it would work and that she would finally manage to come.”
“The last time I
went to visit Lamees in Hebron was seventeen years ago. Since I became very
ill, it is hard for me to travel on my own. I do not even leave this house. I
know that I might get a permit if I applied for one, due to my age and my
medical condition, but what would I do with a permit when I cannot move and
cannot go anywhere alone? My health condition does not allow me to. What if I
died on the way? The Israeli authorities won’t allow my children to accompany
me to the West Bank.”
Israel imposes a
policy of territorial fragmentation on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The
separation of the territories has had grave consequences on the fabric of
society. It has influenced every aspect of the social life of Palestinian
people. Fatma explains how the Israeli closure of the Gaza Strip has further
prevented her and her family from fulfilling her role as a mother and a
grandmother. “Lamees got very sick recently. I could not go to visit her
or look after her. None of her family could either. She is there on her own.
Her father became very ill before he died in 2008. He wanted to see her, so we
applied for a visitor permit, but the permit was refused. He died without
seeing her, and she could not attend his funeral. Now, I have seven
grandchildren whom I do not know. Two of my granddaughters got married, and I
could not attend either of their weddings.”
The separation of the
Gaza Strip and the West Bank has made the simplest family occasions very
difficult. According to Fatma, Lamees was hoping to attend the wedding of her
nephew in Gaza, which was planned for after Ramadan, in order to celebrate the
happy occasion with her family. “We were getting ready to receive her at
the wedding and we were expecting her. We were disappointed to hear that her
permit had been refused again. No matter how many times she is denied
permission to come, I am always hopeful that she will get the permit the next
time and that I will see my daughter again. I cannot get used to the refusals.
I will keep asking for permits again and again.”
Fatma recalls the
days when Israeli restrictions on the movement of individual civilians via Beit
Hanoun crossing were less strict: “In the past, when I applied for a
permit, I would get it the next day. I would take a taxi from Gaza City to
Hebron. We used to leave for Hebron in the morning and arrive before noon. It
was only about an hour’s drive. Nowadays, it’s easier for me to see my daughter
who lives in Norway than see my daughter who lives an hour away.”
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip remain denied of their
right to freedom of movement, and suffer greatly due to the restraints imposed
upon travel via Beit Hanoun crossing. The restrictions were first imposed in
1994 and have become increasingly strict since the al-Aqsa Intifada.
Eventually, the crossing was completely closed on 16 February 2006. Since then,
Palestinians have been prevented from travelling via the crossing unless they fall
under certain specific categories.
As a result, civilians in the Gaza Strip have been
denied access to holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem to perform religious
rituals. Students have been prevented from travelling to attend universities in
the West Bank. Families are prevented from visiting their relatives in the West
Bank and vice versa. Since the Hamas takeover in June 2007, the Israeli
authorities have only permitted limited categories of individuals to travel via
the crossing: patients in a critical state; international journalists;
employees of international organisations;. These groups are allowed to travel
via the crossing under limited circumstances, via complicated procedures, and
are often subjected to degrading treatment.
The closure of the Gaza Strip, which Israel has
imposed for six consecutive years, constitutes a form of collective punishment,
in violation of international humanitarian law. As a consequence of the
continued closure, travelling between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has been
rendered virtually impossible for Palestinians, and entire families are now
separated. The forced separation of families is in violation, inter alia, of
Article 16 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article
23 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
which obliges States to protect the right to marry and found a family.
