Palestinian families torn between the territories

Eight years ago, Mostafa Easariaj set off on a summer vacation to visit his father. His father, Hachem, still lives in the tiny, impoverished Gaza Strip, where Mostafa was born and resided in until he was 16 when his mother seized a rare chance to relocate to West Bank, which while under military occupation, is free from airstrikes and total blockades. Now 26, Mostafa still remains in Gaza, with Israeli policies ensuring that his summer vacation is likely to last a lifetime.

“Many times he tried to come back, but the Israeli policies and procedures do not allow it,” said his mother, Hekmat Bsaiso, from a coffee shop in Ramallah. “He was never meant to stay in Gaza forever. He went as a teenager- he was 18, and now he is 26,” she said.

Gaza and the West Bank are Palestinian territories, and both are supposed to constitute a single territorial entity, according to international accords signed by Israel – freedom of movement was to be permitted, notably through a safe passage. However, Israel’s policy of separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is creating an almost impenetrable barrier between the two areas.

After divorcing and moving to the West Bank, Hekmat remarried and gave birth to her second son, Yazam. While she holds a Gaza ID, her husband has West Bank ID, as does her youngest son. Her older son has Gaza ID.

As Hekmat is registered as a Gazan resident, Israel views her as illegally residing in the West Bank- since 2000 the Israeli authorities, which controls the Palestinian population registry, have refused to allow those registered as Gaza to change their registered address, even if they have lived in the West Bank for many years. As a result these people face the constant threat of deportation back to Gaza without warning.

This means, if Hekmat was to try and visit her son in Gaza, she would have to ask for special permission from the Israeli authorities and face the prospect of not being able to return to the West Bank. In this case, her son, with the West Bank ID, would be unable to join her.

Meanwhile, staying in the West Bank means she is separated from her older son, as Israeli policies have turned the Gaza Strip into what has been described as an “open air prison” by the likes of British Prime Minister David Cameron and world renowned linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky. Israel’s movement-restriction policy stipulates that family visits involving the entry to or exit from the Gaza Strip are only allowed to first-degree relatives, and only under extraordinary circumstances such as a wedding, a death or a grave illness. These are also subject to a complex procedure of permit requests.

Nearly a third of Gaza Strip residents have relatives in the rest of the country, on both sides of the Green Line, but out of the 70 percent who maintain these ties, only 13 percent out of those meet their relatives face to face inside the country’s borders – according to movement rights group Gisha. About 81 percent of those who keep in touch with their relatives living a few dozen kilometres away are only able to do so by telephone, internet or mail.

“If I stay in Gaza I cannot bring my youngest son, and if I stay in the West Bank it is not allowed for my oldest son to have a permit and come here,” she said. A line has been drawn between the two brothers, who, separated by politics and policies have not seen each other in person since Mostafa left, when Yazam was four months old. “We are living through the technology, like Skype, Viber, Facebook…” said Hekmat. “My son knows his brother through Skype.”

“I feel like one of us is in the prison, and mostly him. I have the same feelings of the mother with her children in an Israeli jail. Even sometimes they can visit them, I cannot,” she said.

Ola Salama, a Gazan friend of Hekmat also found herself facing the same impenetrable barrier. After living and working in Ramallah for 9 years, she made a trip to visit her family. On crossing the border she was told by the Israeli authorities she could not return to the West Bank- a situation which remained for 9 years. However, married with two children, work presented an opportunity to return, and her children to escape a childhood marred by the scars of war.

“I couldn’t handle the thought of losing one of my children. After the second war we believed our children were not safe, besides the blockade, besides the electricity shortages, besides the lack of opportunities, they were not safe,” she said. “All of us in Gaza need psychotherapy.”

For Hekmat, the Israeli attacks on Gaza in 2008-2009 and 2012 left their mark as she watched the events unfold over the news- with images of the airstrikes and their victims playing out for the world to see. “There were complicated feelings. My son is there and there is a war. And I love Gaza. All my growth, moments and memories are in Gaza,” she said. “I was sitting close to the TV all the time, because many times the mobile connections went. They were horrible days.” An estimated 1,000- 1,500 Palestinians were killed during the 2008-2009 “Operation Cast Lead,” and 167 Palestinians were killed during the 2012 “Operation Pillar of Defence.”

Asked what her son’s future looks like from Gaza, she said, “In any community you need the colours, you need the difference, you need successful people, leaders, examples in the community. Hekmat pondered for a moment, and then said, “In Gaza, you wake up in the morning, you go in the taxi and the taxi driver talks about his hopelessness. You reach the work and your employee talks about their sadness. You go back to your home, and you follow with problems inside your own houses.”

“Young people in Gaza just try not to die. Not to die, not to have drugs, not to become crazy.” When asked if, when it comes to dreams, hopes, careers, visions, is that all the youth have, she responded, “To have a dream, oh, you need to be a hero.”

“When we communicate, we don’t just talk about what’s going on. I try to put him in touch with dreams, with hope for the future,” she said.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.