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Only at Christmastime is Jumana Khoury (name
changed to protect the family), 25, not afraid to walk out the door of
her home into Jerusalem’s Old City. Every time she leaves she risks
being arrested by Israeli police.
Due
to the Israeli separation barrier, Khoury is one of many Jerusalemites
who struggle to live under the same roof as spouse and child, to not
become cut off from parents and grandparents, and to show up at church
or work on time.
Khoury, a native of Bayt JÄ?llÄ?, a mostly
Christian village five miles away, married her husband, Hanna, six
years ago at the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada
(uprising). Twice she’s applied for a Jerusalem residency permit based
on “family reunification.” Twice the Israeli Ministry of Interior has
denied her request with no explanation. Since then she’s lived in
Jerusalem illegally with her husband, a legal resident, and their son,
15-month-old Michael. But it’s different at Christmas.
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