Rights Based on IDs: The Struggle for Palestinian Identity and Rights is a Balasan Initiative-produced documentary that was released on November 4, 2024. The film examines how Israel’s identification system functions as a central mechanism of governance and control over Palestinians, shaping their legal status, mobility, daily life, and access to fundamental rights.
Tracing the system’s roots to the aftermath of the 1948 Nakba, the documentary shows how identity documents evolved into tools that fragment Palestinians into separate legal and geographic categories. Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, inside what became Israel, and in the diaspora are governed by different rules, despite belonging to the same people. These classifications determine where individuals may live, whether families can reunite, and how easily they can access health care, education, employment, and residency security.
Through a combination of personal testimonies and expert perspectives, the film reveals how ID-based policies are not merely bureaucratic measures but part of a broader structure that regulates Palestinian presence, movement, and demographic continuity. The documentary highlights the everyday consequences of this system—family separation, legal insecurity, and chronic uncertainty—while situating them within a wider framework of international law and accountability.
By connecting individual experiences to systemic practices, the film invites viewers to understand Palestinian identity not as fragmented by nature, but as deliberately fragmented by policy. It ultimately raises urgent questions about rights, belonging, and the international community’s responsibility to confront and address an institutionalized regime of discrimination.