Middle East
Information
The impact of politics and ideologies on communities has continued to be a recurrent theme in my work. When the second intifada began at the end of 2000 I was interested to see how the violence was affecting the daily lives of the people. What drew my attention was the way children had become caught up in the conflict and the way it had become a kind of daily routine for them. When in one of the hotspots such as Hebron, Gaza or Remalah I’d join the other photographers around after lunch and wait for the kids get out of school. They would then go down to the frontline and start the stone throwing. The stones would land about 100 meters from the Israeli line. They would fire teargas, stun grenades, plastic bullets and live rounds at the kids. This would go on, day in day out, for a couple of hours until it was time to go home, or the kids got bored. Most times the only injuries were from teargas inhalation, but sometimes it would be fatal. It was this cycle of violence that I set out to record.
A young boy plays with a toy gun, Rafah, Gaza
Mourners carry the coffin of one of the five victims of an Israeli machine gun attack on a Palistine car in the Gaza Strip. Rafah, Gaza.
Young men and children at the barricades, built to protect themselves from Israeli army, Ramallah, West Bank, Israel.
Poster of Yasser Arafat with the Dome on the Rock in Jerusalem, Israel. East Jerusalem is claimed as the future capital by Palestinians’. On the road to Rafah, Gaza.
Children throwing stones at the Israeli Army on the way back from school. Such activities have become a part of the daily routine for these children. Hebron, West Bank.
A young slingshotter shows off to his friends, Ramala, West Bank.
A father identifies his son at a morgue in Gaza City. This is his third and last son that he has lost. He was shot whilst trying to go around an Israeli roadblock on his way home. Gaza City
Funeral for a teenager who was shot whilst trying to go around an Israeli roadblock on his way home. Gaza City
Children climb onto the roof of a morge in Gaza City to watch relatives leaving at the end of a bloody day in the Second Interfada.
A mourner holds a portrait of one of the dead being buried during a collective funeral in Rafah, Gaza.
Women mourn the death of several teenagers who are to be buried that day in Gaza City.
Burial of a teenager who was shot whilst trying to go around an Israeli roadblock on his way home. Gaza City
A gun is fired into the air at the funeral of five victims of an Israeli machine gun attack on a Palestine car in the Gaza Strip. Rafah, Gaza.
At the end of another day of funerals a young man is silhouetted against the sky. Rafah, Gaza.
