Just Another Story

I learned this week of a young Palestinian woman with a Jerusalem ID (which means she has medical insurance), nine months pregnant and beginning to go into labor. Because her husband is from Ramallah (no Jerusalem ID; no medical insurance), the hospital informed them he would have to put up $4,000 before she could go into delivery. She can only use her medical insurance if she will state that the father is "unknown". In a Muslim culture, that implies the mother is a loose woman and the child will always carry the label of bastard. Israeli policy has many ways to punish those they wish would go away.