Summary
Palestinian writer whose account of queueing at the East Jerusalem Ministry of the Interior to obtain his teenage daughter’s identity card Makdisi uses to open Chapter 2’s picture of the ministry: after ten hours outdoors, and at least eight fights for places in line, he and his daughter gave up and went home (Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, PDF p.144-145).
Details
- The day before, volunteers had organised an orderly list — register, a 10 P.M. roll call, return at 5 A.M. — and Kuttab was granted number 16; at the roll call the list-keeper had been replaced and the list torn in a fight, and he reregistered as number 46; at 5 A.M. there was no list at all: “Everyone for himself, we were told” (PDF p.144).
- By 11 A.M. more than eight fights for places had taken place; the queue then stalled until closing at 3 P.M., when they were told the ministry had stopped admitting people early because the following day was a Jewish holiday and the staff did not want to be late home (PDF p.144-145).
Related pages
Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, Samira Aliyan, Center of life