Jbphotos’s Weblog

yesterday at a demonstration in Ni’lin, a small village near Ramallah, 21 year old Arafat was shot in the head by IDF soldiers. today was his funeral and as a woman i could not photograph the burial. however i was taken to Arafat’s mother’s home, where i photographed the women’s grief. this was a highly emotional and chaotic experience, but it was also an important one as many people do not see this side of death. 

(above: Arafat’s body is taken to the family home where women can mourn his loss)

this morning the IDF fired missiles into Gaza, killing approximately 120 people after a six month ‘ceasefire’. today in Ramallah there was a protest against the violence in Gaza.

(above: men lift each other onto their shoulders to lead the crowd in chanting ‘Allah Aqbah’)

the most volatile area of Hebron is the H2 area in the centre, where there are many settlements next to Palestinian homes. there are regular occurrences of settler violence towards Palestinians and their homes. of course the Palestinians retaliate, but neither group want to leave their homes.

(above: the head of the Abu Safam family was shot in the arm by settlers who cut through the fence of their settlement and attacked the family)

in the southern desert area of Hebron is a small bedouin camp called Jinba. travelling with Medicines Sans Frontiers, i was able to visit these people today. although it was frustrating to only have an hour in the area, i tried to make the most of it. MSF were conducting a community visit to check that the people are receiving medical care and water, whilst registering any complaints they may have. i decided to shoot the images in black and white as the colours of the tents and all the clothes made the frame seem distracted to me.

(above: a woman listens to the MSF translator, explaining the difficulties the roadblocks have caused for visiting doctors)

(above: a young palestinian girl listens to the men of the camp asking the MSF team, “Why has there been no doctor?”)

every friday in Bi’lin, a small village close to Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestinian men and boys gather by the separation fence to protest against the occupation. there is a very set manner in which these protests occur; the Palestinians march to the fence chanting and shouting at the soldiers who then project tear gas. in response to this the Palestinian boys use slingshots to propel stone at the Israeli soldiers, who then fire stun grenades and rubber bullets and so on. this was the first time i have been to a protest and i have to admit it was very exciting, running totally on adrenaline. however it is also confusing, especially when you get hit by tear gas and end up stumbling around for a minute or so. it feels strange to be in a beautiful valley, surrounded by olive trees with soldiers shooting and kids throwing stones. but i am glad i have finally witnessed this first hand and it will probably not be my last time either.

(above: men watch tyres burn at the valley in Bi’lin)

(above: Palestinian boys sling stones at the IDF in Bi’lin)

i have just arrived in Israel where i am staying for a month. last night, whilst taking a lovely walk on the beach, we made friends with some fishermen who were happy to have their pictures taken. they told us that even though they fish every night, they hardly catch anything in tel aviv – the sea is too full of garbage.