Palestine: The Politics Of Issuing Passports · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

The hostility between the Hamas government in Gaza and the Fatah government in Ramallah has manifested itself in many areas, from education to electricity. Now it is affecting the issuing of passports, and one blogger in Gaza has been caught in the middle.
Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) following the 1993 Oslo Accords, Palestinian passports have been issued to residents of Gaza and the West Bank. Until 2007, all passports were issued in the Interior Ministry in Gaza, but when Hamas took control in Gaza, the PA in Ramallah transferred the population registry to its jurisdiction. In addition, it prevented the supply of blank passports to Gaza. The Gaza authorities renewed old passports for some time, but then in 2009 the PA introduced new black passports (instead of the earlier green colour), compatible with electronic scanning equipment and compliant with international standards. They also extended the validity from three to five years.
Now Gaza residents are forced to apply for passports in Ramallah, and they use agencies which charge inflated amounts. The process can be drawn out, and applications are sometimes rejected, apparently based on political affiliation and the “security considerations” presented by the PA's General Intelligence Service in the West Bank. In response, some members of Fatah have been prevented from leaving Gaza, and have had their passports confiscated by the Hamas-run Internal Security Service.
The Gazans affected by the delays and rejections include patients requiring medical treatment that is not available in Gaza's poorly equipped hospitals, and people hoping to go on the umrah pilgrimage, such as blogger Khaled Safi:
Khaled's passport, rejected for renewal (http://www.khaledsafi.com/)
كلمة غزة مفردة في حد ذاتها تهمة لمن ينطق بها، ومن ينتمي إليها خارج عن القانون، ومن يقطن فيها إرهابي حتى وإن لم يكن بلحية، ولابد من فحص كل ما يخرج منها بأجهزة إشعاعية عالية التردد للتأكد من تمام موافقتها للمعايير المنحطة والمقاييس المنحازة لهؤلاء وزمرتهم.
كنت أظن أنني الشقي الوحيد، الذي طالته قبضة (مرفوض) بسطوتها، وانفردت تلوك معاناتي بطغيانها، فانزويت ألملم مأساتي وحدي، أبتهل لربي أن يفرج كربي، وما هي إلا أيام وتناثرت القضايا من حولي واتسعت رقعة المعاناة لتضم شريحة أعظم، فتشمل أطباء ومرضى، أكاديميين وطلاب، معتمرين وحجاج، وجمع غفير من المواطنين، الذين كانوا يعتقدون أن لهم الحق في الحصول على جواز سفر فلسطيني.
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With thanks to Hisham and Anas Qtiesh for their help with this post.