Osama Rasaras, clerk

I live in Dura and work as a clerk for the Palestinian Authority in Bethlehem. In 2003, I married my wife Sonia, 29, from Rafah. I entered the Gaza Strip with a visitor's permit. After marrying, I stayed with my wife in Gaza for about a year and a half. Then we received a permit to enter the West Bank and moved to Dura. We have two children, Ahmad, 4, and Dalal, 18 months. Dalal was born with brain damage and is completely paralyzed. We had a good life in Dura.

On 26 December 2007, my wife went to the Gaza Strip to visit her father, who had suffered a stroke. She took the children with her and planned to return home a week later. On 17 September 2008, Dalal was scheduled to undergo surgery in the French St. Joseph Hospital, in Jerusalem, and then to go to Jordan for further treatment.

Since my wife and children went to Gaza, the Israelis have refused to issue them a permit to return to the West Bank. My wife submitted requests to the Palestinian Liaison and Coordination offices, which forwarded them to the Israeli side, but the Israelis refuse to approve the request. My wife has a document confirming that the Palestinian Authority will pay for any treatment for my daughter, and also a referral to the hospital in Jerusalem, but the Israelis still refuse.



Sonia Rasaras with her daughter Dalal. Photo: Muhammad Sabah, B'Tselem, 12 Dec. '08./>

About six months ago, I met the director of the Office for Civilian Affairs in Ramallah, Mr. Hussein a-Sheikh. He tried to help solve the problem with the Israeli side, but nothing has changed.

I also contacted Physicians for Human Rights and they contacted the Civil Administration. Officials at the Civil Administration claimed that they did not receive a request from the Palestinian Authority to allow my wife and children to enter, even though I know that the Palestinian side made requests at least four times.

I don't understand why the Israelis refuse to allow my wife and children to return home. It is an inalienable right that anyone is entitled to.

I haven't seen my wife and children for a year. Dalal is in pain and suffers from convulsions, and I can do nothing to help her. The only thing I can do is call every day and ask how they are. My wife begs me to help her come home, but I don't know what to do. She says that my son, Ahmad, is very sad because we are not together.

I hope that human rights organizations will help me reunite with my family and help my sick daughter.

Osama Ahmad Mahmud Rasaras, 38, married with two children, is a clerk in the Palestinian Authority and a resident of Dura in Hebron District. His testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashhash in Hebron on 9 November 2008.