Every Friday, Palestinians from the village of Ni’lin organize protests against the Israeli “security/separation” barrier being built through the village. Recently, these protests have turned more violent. Israel has, for example, declared Ni’lin a closed military zone on Fridays. This means that, unless you live in Ni’lin, you’re not even allowed to enter the village due to a makeshift checkpoint on the road to the village. This has greatly reduced the available press or even international observer presence at the protests.

We, however, managed to get into the village by exiting our taxi about 1km from the village entering on foot via an alternate route.

The protest followed a similar pattern as Bil’in the week before. The protesters marched toward the wall, chanting and waving flags. Soon thereafter, they lit a pile of tires on fire in front of the gate on the wall and the Israeli army opened up with a barrage of tear gas and concussion grenades. The first volley of tear gas, I should note, was actually fired at close range and aimed directly at the protesters instead of up in the air. Fortunately, none of the high-speed canisters hit anyone. For the next hour or two, the protesters would throw stones at the soldiers over the wall and the army would respond with tear gas. Back and forth in fits and spurts.

Finally, however, the Israeli army opened the gate on the wall and began chasing the protesters through the fields and groves of olive trees. There were a few live rounds fired but, as far as I could tell, no one was hit. The IDF ultimately arrested one protester before withdrawing back behind the wall.

I’ve uploaded a few photos below…

For those unfamiliar with the logos and paraphernalia of the various groups in Palestine, the child on the right (above) is wearing a Hamas hat. I thought it provided an interesting contrast to his Spiderman sweatshirt.

Being a freelance photographer gives me a degree of freedom that might not otherwise be possible. However, that also means that I am often forced to finance my own projects. If you enjoy my work, please consider making a donation.

Today, I traveled to the Palestinian village of Bil’in outside of Ramallah to photograph the weekly demonstrations against the construction of Israel’s “security/separation” barrier.

The march began shortly after the Friday prayers. Palestinians from the village marched, accompanied by a few international demonstrators, through the village and up to the fenceline where the Israeli army was waiting. The demonstrators began planting an olive tree at the fence while chanting and waving flags. Shortly after the tree had been planted, tear gas and concussion grenades were being launched by the Israeli army in an effort to disperse the protesters. Many of the protesters retreated but many younger kids fled into the surrounding trees where they began throwing stones and rocks at the soldiers.

After about 10-20 minutes, the Israeli army crossed the fenceline and began pursuing the demonstrators and stone-throwers. At the same time, another small army patrol had flanked the demonstration and came out behind the demonstration. With the bulk of the demonstrators retreating to the village, the army spent most of its time pursuing the stone-throwers through the surrounding fields.

The whole scene was fairly chaotic. In addition to trying to photograph the soldiers and stone-throwers at two different locations, I was also paying attention to the incoming tear gas canisters from the army and the incoming stones from the stone-throwers since I was wearing neither a gas mask or a helmet.

I’ve included a few photos from the demonstration and ensuing chaos below. I’ve also included a few videos that were shot by a local friend of mine. The videos are fairly short given the fast-paced situation but, hopefully, it will give you a feel of how Fridays go in Bil’in.

In the video below, you will be able to see the planting of the olive tree near the fenceline. I’m in the video briefly…

The video below was taken near the rear of the demonstration. At the time I was either up front or navigating the trees photographing the stone-throwers. You will hear, however, the crack of the tear gas and the whistle as they fly close overhead.

Being a freelance photographer gives me a degree of freedom that might not otherwise be possible. However, that also means that I am often forced to finance my own projects. If you enjoy my work, please consider making a donation.

Yesterday, I traveled to the Palestinian village of al Ma’asara, south of Bethlehem. For months now, Israeli peace activists and international activists have been meeting up with local Palestinians to protest the construction of Israeli settlements in the area and the proposed route of Israel’s “security/separation” wall, both of which, they say, are being built on the village’s land.

The march of approximately 50-60 activists and locals made its way through the village but stopped at a small makeshift roadblock set up by the Israeli army. The road, however, is not normally closed but the soldiers, who have grown accustomed to the weekly demonstrations, put up the roadblock to prevent the march from reaching the proposed route of the wall.

When the demonstrators reached the roadblock, they stopped and began chanting “1-2-3-4, occupation no more… 5-6-7-8, Israel a (sic) fascist state”. The soldiers, about 20-30 visible (I noticed later that another 10-20 soldiers were hidden in surrounding buildings and on rooftops), simply stood behind the roadblock without a sound and looked on.

The entire demonstration at the road block lasted less than 30 minutes and ended without incident. After some closing comments from the organizers of the march, everyone slowly dispersed and the roadblock was removed from the road.

Until next Friday anyway.

Being a freelance photographer gives me a degree of freedom that might not otherwise be possible. However, that also means that I am often forced to finance my own projects. If you enjoy my work, please consider making a donation.

Today, I spent a fair amount of time shadowing the Israeli army today as it went on patrols throughout the Old City of Hebron. I wasn’t invited, of course. I simply would follow them, take photos, and, perhaps, strike up a conversation as they were making their rounds. To be clear, my intent is not to interfere. I am there merely to observe. The army is free to stop, search, and detain anyone in the Old City. According to local Palestinians and CPT members, the army tends to be slightly rougher with the locals and they also tend to search and detain without reason more often when internationals are not observing.

I saw this first-hand tonight as I was waiting to meet up with some CPT members in the Old City. An army patrol passed by us and continued up the street. When they were about 50 meters away, I could see that they stopped and had set up a small perimeter, which is common practice when they stop and question someone. I quickly walked up to the area and caught up with them and saw that they had stopped a young man and had him standing against the wall. As I approached, the soldier began telling him to remove his shirt and shoes. As I walked around the corner and got close, I began taking photos. After the soldier noticed my presence, he told the young man to continue on his way. Shortly thereafter, the patrol also continued on its way back to the entrance to their base.

I followed them back to the entrance of the army base and eventually struck up a conversation with a couple of the soldiers. I had asked them why they stopped that young man. They simply responded that they can stop anyone that they want. I asked “Was there a specific reason he was stopped? Did he have something? Was he a militant?” The answer was “No.” I continued, asking why they do patrols at all. They explained that they do patrols for “protection”. I asked “Protection of who? There are only Palestinians living here. Are you protecting the Palestinians?” No answer. I asked if they were protecting the settlers. “Yes. The settlers.” I asked them, “Don’t you think it’s a little silly to have all you guys here for only 500 people?” No answer. A couple shrugs.

To be fair, all of the soldiers I spoke to seemed to be fairly responsive and pleasant. I got the sense that they were somewhat happy to hear a friendly voice, even if it was asking them pointed questions. For the most part, they’re kids serving their compulsory military service and following orders. I get the impression that not many of them really want to be in Hebron. Many mentioned that were looking forward to getting out of the army altogether.

I’ve included a few more photos from today below…

The gentleman in the next two photos was stopped and questioned because his son was holding a toy gun. I said to the soldiers “It’s a toy. Why would you stop him?” The soldier I was speaking to said that sometimes they put bullets in toy guns. “But even if that were true, they can’t fire bullets, right? It’s a toy.” No response.

Being a freelance photographer gives me a degree of freedom that might not otherwise be possible. However, that also means that I am often forced to finance my own projects. If you enjoy my work, please consider making a donation.