One of the things we deal with is a woman or man who is married to a Palestinian but they themselves are not Palestinians but internationals. It usually happens with the US, but also Germany, Europe, Africa, any other country. When it happens, they basically need to be listed through Israel, that they’re married, through the Palestinian Authority. That the Palestinian Authority recognizes them as married. Now, it’s very hard to do this if they got married overseas.

Even if they got married abroad and live abroad?

Even if they got married abroad and live abroad. How do we know that they’re married? Because they told us that they’re married when they enter [the West Bank, through the Allenby Bridge]. If someone tells me: I’m married – not to me but to the person who checks him there – then we see that he’s saying that they’re married but they’re not married.

Again, they’re not married according to what you have in the population registry.

Yes. According to the information we have they’re not married and they’re claiming they’re married. At that moment what happens is…

They’re claiming [that they’re married] and on the face of it they have proof.

And on the face of it they’re married, but from abroad, not by the Palestinian Authority, they didn’t marry there. Now, a marriage permit from the Palestinian Authority [means that] they were supposed to get married in the Palestinian Authority.

Territorially within the territory of the [Palestinian] Authority?

Yes. Inside the [Palestinian] Authority’s territory, or the second option is that he enters there (the West Bank) and does it [there].

And list them as married?

And list them as married, a process that could take between a few hours to a few days in extreme cases. According to what we were told, [there’s] internal politics there, like fights between families, it can take weeks when they don’t want her to enter. What happens is that she comes to visit his family or on a kind of heritage trip and she’s simply thrown back out to Jordan without knowing that that’s what’s going to happen, it’s not something that they all know.

Because they’re married?

Because they’re married. Now, imagine that she didn’t say that they’re married and they didn’t say it [at the crossing], [then] she can enter. She just needs the permits that she has to have as an American, European, [someone from] any other country. Those permits. And then she can enter. Because they said they’re married, because they like got married abroad, they need to be listed by the Palestinian Authority as married.

Why does this interest us?

The reason this interests us is simply because as far as we’re concerned it changes her status here, she can stay – if they're married – she can stay within the Palestinian Authority.

In the [West] Bank, not in Israel.

Right, in the [West] Bank, longer. She can get permits to stay in the [West] Bank almost indefinitely, and the permits are permits that you need to extend every time once every two or three months but supposedly you can extend them each time and then stay here loads and loads of time. And as far as Israel is concerned that fact that she says she’s married, that’s a concern that she’ll stay here and that they won’t just come to visit, but that she will want to stay here.

On one hand Israel insists that they be listed as married. The significance of them being listed as married is that she can stay here longer.

Right.

On the other hand, Israel is concerned that she’ll stay here for a long time, but Israel itself requires her to list herself as married.

The thing is that like the Palestinian Authority itself, it might allow her to stay here, even only with a marriage [certificate] from abroad, that could happen too. Like, the Palestinian Authority will say: I recognize your marriage even though you got married in Germany. And then she can stay even if she’s not listed on our side as married. We get the data from them, so they like won’t list her as married and she’ll be here like…

They will list, if they let her, they’ll list her as married, that’s why she’s received the permit.

Right, but it like creates a complicated situation for her because it’s…

Bureaucratically complicated. 

Yes. 

And listed on the computer.

It’s a situation that they want because they don’t really want her to stay or to accept her too much, really it’s just an IDF decision and I don’t really know what the thinking behind it is, what we were told is that they don’t want her here too much, don’t want them to enter.

Who told you?

The direct officer and the direct non-commissioned officer.

Officers from the unit?

Yes.