Lena Fuqahaa, student

I live with my family in the village of 'Ein a-Beida. I was born in the government hospital in Jenin, but my parents didn't register me in the population registry at the Civil Administration. When I reached school age, they couldn't register me without a birth certificate. My father went to the Israeli Civil Administration, where they issued a birth certificate for me, but it didn't have an ID number.

I went to elementary and middle school in the village and to high school in Bardala. When I was in the twelfth grade, I couldn't take the exams without an ID number. A number of times, my father went to the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Jericho, and it took the involvement of the head of the office to issue me a national number on the spot, and the Ministry of Education agreed to let me take the exams. That same year, my father filed, with the Palestinian Ministry for Civil Affairs, a request for internal family unification, which is my only chance for obtaining a Palestinian ID card. We hired a lawyer to speed up the process, and I'm still waiting for a response.

After I finished high school, I wanted to go to university, but I couldn't register without an ID number. I also needed an ID card to be able to get there, because there are a lot of army checkpoints on the way there. I am a freelance project coordinator at the Women's Center, a non-profit organization in my village. In 2002, a branch of al-Quds University opened in Tubas. To get there from my village, I have to cross only one checkpoint, the Tayasir Checkpoint.

I decided to register and use my sister's ID card to cross the checkpoint, because she looks like me. The university agreed to register me on the condition that I provide an ID number before I complete my studies for a degree.  The Open University enables you to study for twelve years to get a bachelor's degree, and you can take as many courses as you like each year. I am taking a few courses, all of them on the same day of the week. I need only a few more courses to complete my degree.  

Crossing the checkpoint with my sister's ID card scares me and I worry that I'll be caught, so I sometimes spend the night with relatives in Tubas. I do this especially during exam period. Even though my sister really looks like me, I'm scared I'll get caught every time I pass through the checkpoint.

Not having an ID card makes it hard for me to get married. A few men have proposed to me, but each time they changed their mind, once my parents told them that I don't have an ID card. I wouldn't start a new life either with someone who doesn't have an ID number. It's just asking for trouble. It hurts me a lot that I can't marry, especially since all my girlfriends and female relatives are married. I hope my problem gets resolved and that I can get married and have children.

Lena Ibrahim 'Abd al-Karim Fuqahaa, 28, is a student and a resident of 'Ein al-Beida in Jenin District. Her testimony was given to 'Atef Abu a-Rub at the witness’s home on 31 March 2008.