Reference :
V-P-IL-E-01368
Date :
23/05/2007
Caption :
Occupied Golan. Portrait of a family.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
5-06-2007 Stories from the field
Occupied Golan: stories of separation
Israel's occupation of the Golan severely restricts the ability of its Arab residents to go about their daily lives. In addition, many have relatives across the demarcation line in Syria that they have not seen for years.
Haniya Saleem Bader Eldeen Shams is 59 years old. She has lived in the occupied Golan since 1968 when she came to be married. Her son, Youseef Hussein Shams, explains that his mother's family live on the other side of the demarcation line.
"She used to be as healthy as a horse," he says, "but since 2003 she has suffered a heart attack and has been hospitalized three times. She is always in tears, sad and depressed."
During a one week trip to Jordan in 2003 was the last time Haniya saw her family. On the last day of the visit, her older brother died of a heart attack but because his body was taken home to Syria, Haniya was unable to attend the funeral. Her son says this experience broke her health.
Earlier, she had been able to spend one month with her family in Syria in 1990 as part of the ICRC's family visit programme but this was suspended by the Israeli authorities in 1992.
Yousef spends around 50 dollars a week on a twenty-minute phone call that allows his mother to talk to her family.
"It's expensive," he says "but after she fell sick, I do what I can to help her."
"When she came here, she left her family behind. She did not see them or their children as they grew up. She missed that sense of family. If the family visits were restored, it would compensate for some of those moments and heal some of the injuries."
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
2592x1944
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
