F.R., worker

I am from the town of a-Zarqaa, in Jordan . I have a Jordanian identity card and passport. In 1996, I received a visitor's permit and entered the West Bank so that I could sign a marriage contract with my cousin on my mother's side, who lives in Jenin. In 1997, she came to Jordan and we married there. The same year, I returned with her, on a visitor's permit, to the West Bank . I began to work at a gas station in Israel . Until 2000, I went and visited my father a few times, and each time I entered with my visitor's permit. In July 1997, I submitted a request for family unification. Since then, I have made sure not to leave the West Bank more than I was allowed to according to the permit, so that the Israeli authorities would not make it hard for me to get their approval for family unification. In February 2000, I entered the West Bank with another visitor's permit, and when the intifada began, I decided to remain, even though my visitor's permit had expired. I had two infant children and was afraid that I would not be allowed to return and see them.

I was afraid during the intifada, mostly when the Israeli army invaded Jenin. I began to take tranquilizers to calm me. In recent years, I underwent a few difficult situations. The army entered our house more than four times. Each time, they detained me for a few hours… I was lucky that they released me each time.

In recent years, things happened with my family in Jordan which made it hard for me not to be with them. A few of my brothers married, and my father's medical condition deteriorated over the past few months. When I hear that something happened to him, I become tense. I am in close contact with my father and am afraid that something bad will happen to him when I am not by his side.

F.R., married and father of four, is a worker who lives with his wife in Jenin. His testimony was given to 'Atef Abu a-Rub, in Jenin, on 10 July 2005.