The late veteran journalist Sherine Abu Aqleh enjoyed status and appreciation among all Palestinian families, but she left an exceptional impact on the life of the Palestinian youth, Fayez Al-Kawamela.
When the journalist - who was shot dead by Israeli forces while she was covering the events in Jenin more than 6 months ago - decided to return to university studies in 2020, and during her project to obtain a diploma in digital media from Birzeit University, she focused on the complete story of the young man and his experience.
Kawmela lived an unstable life for nearly 22 years, as the Israeli authorities denied him an identity card, and he was unable to get a job or travel even between different cities in the West Bank, nor to think about marriage. In short, his life was at a dead end.
In order to complete her academic project, the late journalist departed from her usual work tasks, learned to film and edit her own snapshots that she took for the Kamel family herself, composed appropriate music for her story, and made her own drawings and designs.
Her niece, Lina Abu Aqelah, told the English version of Al Jazeera Net that she "always wanted to develop herself," adding, "She wanted to learn new skills and tools with the advancement of media technology."
But even with the advancement of technology, Shireen's stories have always focused on the Palestinians, their lives, tragedies, happiness and sadness, so she chose to focus on a complete story.
His story was similar to that of many Palestinians who have been refused identity cards by the Israeli authorities for unspecified reasons.
Israel has controlled the Palestinian population registry since 1967, and the occupying power has extensive authority over issuing Palestinian identity cards and passports, and determining who enters and exits the country.
Kawmela told Sherine in 2020, "21 years ago I was without an identity card. Life throws opportunities at your doorstep, but you can't take advantage of them. The simplest right is that I can get a driver's license, and I can't even get it. Imagine if I decided to get married."
Two of Kamala's brothers were able to obtain two identity cards, while his older sister and mother were denied an identity card just like him. Two of his uncles died abroad and his mother was unable to participate in their funerals.
Fayez with one of his sisters who was issued a Jerusalem identity card while he was denied it for 22 years (Courtesy of Lina Abu Aqleh)
Israel issues identity cards to Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, but has in practice stopped processing applications for registration and change of residency status since 2000, and this has affected Palestinians' right to family reunification as well as their ability to travel.
"We are 6 members of the family. We all live in the same house and under the same conditions. They gave half of the family cards and denied the rest. The only thing I can think of is that they are trying to push us to leave," Kawamleh said.
These conditions prompted the family to live in Kafr Aqab, a neighborhood located within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem but on the “West Bank side” of the Israeli separation wall, and the area lacks municipal and civil services.
The Palestinian youth knew that any Israeli soldier could arrest him to be transferred to the Israeli courts, which await any opportunity to deport him because he did not possess the necessary identification papers, and he said to a previous report by Al-Jazeera Net, "There are many like me, I am not the only one in Palestine who suffers from this problem, we They are completely denied freedom of movement."
Fayez worked as a dabkeh (Palestinian folk dance) trainer for children between the ages of 6 and 16 throughout the West Bank, especially in marginalized areas, but the difficulty of crossing the military checkpoints that cut off the West Bank forced him to train dabkeh only in Ramallah.
22 years of waiting
Now, more than 6 months after Shirin was shot dead by Israeli forces, 34-year-old Kawmela has spoken about his situation again.
The Palestinian young man says, "My mother, my older sister and I spent about 22 years without any identity cards, so we were practically confined to the Ramallah area. Finally we got permission to obtain an identity card, but it was not the Jerusalem identity card, but the West Bank identity."
Kamala, who was born in the Emirates, was 13 years old when he came to Palestine, and his father holds a Jerusalem identity card, and when he applied for family reunification upon his return in 1999 from the Emirates - where he worked for more than 10 years - he was theoretically entitled to grant his family Jerusalem residency. preexisting.
But the Israeli authorities refused the identity cards of three family members until about a year ago, when dozens of West Bank identity cards were handed over to those living without documents, as part of a deal with the Palestinian Authority.
Only after obtaining an identity card was he able to travel and obtain a driver's license and mobility, and Kawamleh said, "I spent the year outside Palestine and traveled a lot. I look forward to my future, I look for work abroad, everything has changed. My world has expanded greatly. It is an indescribable feeling." The first time I went abroad, I couldn't believe it."
She knew Shireen Kawmela through a mutual friend, and spent nearly two years talking to him and his family, highlighting the plight of thousands of Palestinians who also lived in fear of being arrested by the Israeli authorities, as they did not have identity cards, and might be at risk of deportation.
Half of a full family lived in the West Bank without identity cards for 22 years (Courtesy of Lina Abu Aqleh)
"Shereen was not communicating with us as sources of a case she was working on," Kawamleh said.
He added that over time, Sherine became very close to his family, and spoke to him on several occasions and followed up on the developments of his identity card even after the end of the project and her obtaining a diploma from Birzeit University.
Kawamleh continued, "I do not consider Sherine just a journalist writing a story about me, but also a person who was truly interested in my family's affairs. She became close to our family. She used to come to our house. Sherine's death was a shock to all of us and a loss for all of us, for our people and our whole country."
And he concluded, "Our friendship has become stronger because of her work. I feel that I know her family, and her family knows my family, and this shows that she was truly a human being and above all, and not just a professional employee who does her job only."