top of page

At 18, Anwar missed the chance to prove he exists


Shahar Ilan, HAARETZ


Anwar Ghazem's world is practically confined to his father's apartment near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, the yard and his father's vendor stall beneath the apartment. Ghazem, 23, is neither disabled nor sick, and has not been sentenced officially to house arrest; but in reality, he is a prisoner in his home. Ghazem is one of a group of several hundred people in Israel who are not documented anywhere - not in Israel, not in the Palestinian Authority, not in any country. He has no identification card, no identification number. Bureaucratically speaking, he does not exist.


Adi Lustigman, who represents several Hamoked cases and is representing Ghazem privately. Lustigman cites other circumstances that cause problems: home births, and cases in which Easr Jerusalem hospitals refuse to provide a birth statement before hospitalization costs are paid, and the Onterior Ministry refuses to issue a birth certificate without the statement.


Comments


bottom of page