“My Son Calls My Brother-in-Law ‘Dad’”

Rawan, 32 years old – North of Hebron “This house is not my home. I live in my father’s house, sleeping in the same room with my sisters. My sister, a schoolteacher, says things like: ‘Your son has no roots, no identity.’ I stay silent. I watch my sisters carry their children, and I break down in tears—while my son calls my brother-in-law ‘dad,’ even though he doesn’t treat him like his own.” With trembling voice and tears constantly interrupting her words, Rawan, a young mother from the north of Hebron, tries to describe her life. And even when words fail her, the pain speaks clearly. Her first marriage lasted three years—without children despite medical attempts. Her husband’s obsessive jealousy and abusive behavior turned her life into a nightmare. In exchange for her freedom, she gave up all her rights—just to escape. “I thanked God that I didn’t have a child with him,” she says. But her second marriage was no refuge. Her husband, who already had a wife and four daughters in Jordan, began pressuring her to terminate the pregnancy as soon as he learned she was expecting. He feared the baby might be another girl. Rawan refused. “He brought me pills to end the pregnancy, but I secretly took medicine to keep my child safe.” He abandoned her, traveling back to Jordan and sending her to live with her family in Palestine, promising to return after the birth. But the promise was never kept. When their baby turned four months old, Rawan, desperate for support, traveled with her brother to Jordan. There, she found her husband embroiled in conflict with his first wife, who had left him and the home. Her return brought no comfort. “The situation was humiliating—there was violence, neglect, and emotional abuse.” She returned home again, with no contact from him for almost a year. When her child, now over a year old, finally began to form his first words, she tried to reconnect the father with his son—hoping hearing his voice would soften his heart. The call lasted only a few minutes. It was never repeated. Today, with her son nearing age three, Rawan remains legally married—not out of love, but out of mercy for her child. “I just want my son to say ‘baba’ and know who his father is. I don’t want him to grow up feeling abandoned. I never imagined I’d have a child without a father.”