02-07-06,7:30am

GAZA, February 7, 2006 (IPC + Al Sharq Al Awsat) - - More than 54 thousand Palestinians suffer from the problem of not having an identity card, either by not being registered with the Israeli authorities at birth, or by having foreign nationalities.

Soad Al Ameri, the author of the book 'Sharon and my mother-in-law' points out in sarcasm that her dog 'Noura' had more civil rights than her when she was registered as a holder of a Jerusalem ID, while Soad spent her early years in the West Bank without one.

She also points out to this contradiction when an Israeli soldier allowed 'Noura' to enter Jerusalem with the car but without Soad due to the ID card issue. However, Soad managed to convince the soldier that she's Noura's driver, in order to be let into Jerusalem.

In many areas of the Palestinian territories, ID cards can determine one's fate, especially at Israeli military checkpoints that dot the West Bank, where those without a Jerusalem ID card, which is issued only for Jerusalem residents, make sure they steer clear from these checkpoints in fear of harassment, arrest or even expulsion at the hands of the Israeli soldiers.

Mohammed, 25, from Ramallah, told Reuters news agency that his father forgot to register his name in the ID card after his birth, and thus he wasn't included in official document. The Israeli government refuses continuously to issue documents for Mohammed and hundreds like him, as he cannot find anything to prove he exists - not even a birth certificate indicating his name, date of birth and nationality. Mohammed mentioned that he has tried to have an ID card issued for him for nine years now, but Israel keeps rejecting his application. He views that he has no future, as he is unable to go to university, open a bank account or even marry without an ID card.

A young man in the proper age for marriage, Mohammed approached the Palestinian Civil Affairs Ministry, which stands helpless at similar case, as nobody is allowed to register without the Israeli government's approval.

The only solution for this dilemma is applying for 'reunion' at the Israeli Interior Ministry, which is a process where Palestinians with ID cards can apply to ask for ID cards for their relatives living abroad.

As for the second group of those without an ID card, Israel refuses to register more than 40 thousand Palestinians who returned with different passports to the Palestinian Authority over the past ten years. They stay in Gaza Strip or the West Bank as tourists, and have to travel abroad for several months each year until they can renew their visiting permits - which is subject for Israeli approval also.

A lady with a US passport whose daughter lives in Ramallah City said that since her daughter was born six years ago, she has to travel outside the Palestinian territories four times each year to renew their permits.

'I'm a holder of a Jerusalem ID, while her father has a West Bank ID, so they [the Israelis] refuse to register her,' she said. 'So the only solution for me is to travel to the States and give birth to her there so she could at least get an American passport.'

Hundreds of Palestinian families suffer the same problem, where one of the parents holds a Jerusalem ID, while the other a West Bank one. They are forced to register half their children on one ID, and the other half on the second ID card.

But this problem escalated after the Israeli government decided to freeze all reunion applications for Palestinians after the second Intifada broke out in September, 2000 followed by an Israel decision two years later to stop dealing with any Palestinian reunion application.

Ziyad Al Hammouri, an attorney from the Al Quds Center for Social and Economic Rights, asserted that dealing with reunion applications was resumed last August, but with two new conditions that make the entire process harder than before.

'The first condition is that only men older than 35 years and women older than 25 years are allowed to apply for a reunion. The second is that decision over a reunion application shall be delivered five years after the date of submission, and during that period, the applicant is not allowed to stay in the area,' Hammouri said.

He further warned, 'About 200,000 persons in Jerusalem and Israel will be at risk of having their ID cards revoked after the completion of the Israeli Apartheid Wall, because the Israeli government will include areas without its residents and will put new obstacles before those who apply for a reunion.'