Na'ama Hilmiyeh, 64

I live in Abu Dis together with my husband and 2 boys, Feisal who is 32 and Mo'tamad who is 26. Mo'tamad's wife 'Afaf, who is 20 years old, usually stays with me helping out around the house .

About 2 weeks ago, 'Afaf was in her ninth month of pregnancy and was being monitored by Dr. Hisham Abu Sara from the Al-Arab Medical Center in Abu Dis. On her last visit, Dr. Hisham told her that she could go into labor any day now and gave her a referral to deliver at Al-Makassed hospital.

On Thursday, March 1, 2007, 'Afaf's mother, Faizah Bahar, filed for a permit for 'Afaf at the a-Za'ayem checkpoint in order to get a permit to enter Jerusalem when labor began. Faizah said she was at the DCO from 8AM until 3PM after which the soldiers told her to leave and come back on Sunday, March 4, 2007 .

On Sunday, Faizah went again to the DCO and waited again from 8AM until 3PM. They finally gave her a permit for 'Afaf for one day only (March 5, 2007) from 5AM until 5PM. Faizah told the soldiers that there was no way to tell what day 'Afaf would give birth and asked for an extended permit which they refused to give her .

Na'amah Hilmiyeh and her granddaughter, born at the checkpoint. Photo: Kareem Jubran, B'Tselem .

On Monday, March 12, 2007, Faizah took 'Afaf's ID card and went again to the DCO to apply for another permit. That same day at 1:40PM 'Afaf felt contractions. Mo'tamad was at work and there was no one to drive her to the hospital. I ordered a taxi and at 2:00PM I went with 'Afaf toward Ras Kubsa Gate in al-'Eizariya in order to go to al-Makassed Hospital . At the gate I told the border policemen that 'Afaf had contractions and that we urgently needed to get to the al-Makassed hospital. Because we didn't have permits, the policemen refused to let us through. I begged them and finally after ten minutes one of the policemen allowed 'Afaf to go in by herself. 'Afaf was scared of going alone, but the policemen would under no circumstance allow me to accompany her. 'Afaf and I went back to the taxi and drove to the a-Za'ayem checkpoint in the hopes that the soldiers there would allow us through. At the main gate of the checkpoint the soldiers ordered us to show our permits from far away. I waved the old permit from March 5. The soldiers allowed us through the first gate but when we got to the revolving door the soldiers standing there demanded to see the permit. When they saw that the permit was expired and that 'Afaf had no ID card, they refused to let us pass. I told them that 'Afaf 's ID card was with her mother who had been at that same checkpoint since early morning trying to get a permit for 'Afaf. I explained to them that 'Afaf was about to give birth and that we had to get to a hospital. I talked to the soldiers in Arabic and one of the guys at the gate translated what I was saying. I argued with the soldiers for almost half an hour and in the meantime 'Afaf's contractions were growing stronger. Despite that, the soldiers still refused to let us pass. Half an hour later, two officers came to see what the problem was. The guy told them in Hebrew and they opened a door and led us into a big hall. In that hall were many people waiting to get permits. 'Afaf's mother was also there and when she saw us she started screaming at the soldiers "Here is my daughter who is about to give birth and from the morning you are accusing me of being a liar!"

' Afaf's contractions grew so much stronger that the officers took the three of us out from the hall and into an empty corridor. The minute we got there, 'Afaf started screaming that the baby's head was coming out. I reached out my hand and touched the baby's head. I asked her to lie on the ground, I put my purse under her head, I took off her underwear, and then the baby came into the world while 'Afaf was screaming. The soldiers gathered around us and looked in astonishment. I yelled at them to move. After a few minutes, a man arrived, picked up the baby, and asked for something to cover her with. I took out a robe from 'Afaf's bag and that man wrapped her in it while the umbilical cord was still attached between 'Afaf and the baby. We waited like that for 45 minutes until an Israeli ambulance came and 4 paramedics got out. One of them cut the umbilical cord and gave 'Afaf a shot. At that minute, one of the soldiers came with a permit for 'Afaf and her mother and they went to al-Makassed hospital. The soldiers allowed me to accompany them even though I had no permit.

Na'ama Muhammad Hilmiyeh, 64, married with 11 children, is a housewife and a resident of Abu Dis in al-Quds district. Her testimony was given to Kareem Jubran, at the witness's house in Abu Dis, on 27 March, 2007 .