NOVANEWS
Please circulate
This is a plea for help from Taiseer Khatib and his wife Lana from Acre, Israel.
The story of the plight of the Khatib family aroused a lot of attention after the High Court of Israel decided to extend the citizenship law that limits Palestinian immigration to Israel based on the argument that ‘the right to a family life does not necessarily have to be realised within the borders of Israel.’
Taiseer is a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Haifa, a teacher at the Western Galilee College, and a conductor of creative writing workshops for young adults in the ‘Freedom Theatre’ at the Jenin Refugee Camp. Lana is from Jenin in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and has completed a degree in Economics from the Al-Najah University in Nablus. She moved to Acre in 2005 in order to live with her husband and their two children (3 and 4 years old) in her husband’s home town.
Her residency in Israel completely depends on a yearly extension of her permission to stay within the 1967 borders. She has no legal rights, no health insurance, or any other form of security. She is neither allowed to drive a car nor to hold a job and is thus totally dependent on her husband. Naturally, this situation causes much frustration for Lana who is used to an independent life style having spent four years working for the Ministry of Health in Jenin.
The citizenship law was first passed in 2003 as a temporary security measure but has since been extended several times. The most recent decision of the High Court means that Lana can neither dream of being granted a citizen nor a permanent resident status. In the best case, she might receive a renewal of the permission that enables her to merely ‘visit’ her family. Unfortunately, this is a reality currently faced by thousands of people in Israel.
Adding to this, the Khatibs cannot choose to live in Nablus because Taiser, as an Israeli citizen and according to the laws introduced after the Oslo Accords, is not allowed to enter a Palestinian city within ‘Area A’ of the OPT.
Unfortunately, the renewed extension of the citizenship law seems to confirm the wide-spread assumption that the Israeli government aims to transform Israel into a purely ‘Jewish State’ – free of Palestinians.
I’m sending you the personal story the Khatib family on behalf of Isha L’Isha as well as a woman who is personally outraged and deeply concerned. I urge you to protest in any possible way – via Facebook, the press, to the nearest Israeli embassy or through an NGO.
Taiseer and his wife welcome any form of contact and support:
Taiseer’s „Open Letter“: http://abirkopty.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/open-letter-from-taiseer-khatib-raise-your-voice-against-the-apartheid/
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1125968129
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/37411701
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tiImZe8tLA
Thank you for your support!
