[News] Great Pics - Portraits of Palestine’s youth rebellion

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Portraits of Palestine’s youth rebellion

ActiveStills <https://electronicintifada.net/people/activestills> The 
Electronic Intifada 
<https://electronicintifada.net/people/electronic-intifada> 28 January 2016

*Great Pics here:
https://electronicintifada.net/content/portraits-palestines-youth-rebellion/15426*

For nearly four months, popular protests, violence and general unrest 
have buffeted the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, leading some 
commentators to suggest a third intifada or uprising.

Most of this is driven by restive and young people tired of endless and 
evidently pointless negotiations between the Palestinian Authority 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/palestinian-authority> and Israel 
that have brought no end to Israel’s military occupation and only seen 
its illegal settlements 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/israeli-settlements> expand.

“This is our land. We must do anything to free it from occupation,” says 
Mahmoud, 26, from al-Azzeh refugee camp 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/al-azzeh-refugee-camp> in the West 
Bank city of Bethlehem <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/bethlehem>.

Mahmoud (not his real name, since Israel frequently arrests protesters) 
has been a regular participant in demonstrations against the military 
occupation, in which youth confront Israeli forces with stones and, less 
frequently, Molotov cocktails. The army tries to suppress these protests 
with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition.

Since the beginning of last October, which witnessed increased 
confrontation with the occupation, more than 160 Palestinians and 
approximately two dozen Israelis have been killed. A United Nations 
monitoring group recorded 
<http://www.ochaopt.org/poc29december-11january-2016.aspx> a weekly 
average of 1,000 Palestinian injuries at the hands of the Israeli army 
during the last quarter of 2015.

Approximately one-third of those Palestinians killed, and many of those 
injured, were hit by live ammunition while taking part in demonstrations 
or while they were in the vicinity of protests.


    Risks

The youths confronting the Israeli army know all too well the risks 
involved.

“I have mixed feelings during clashes. Sometimes you are afraid of 
dying,” Mahmoud explained. “But it’s also good to get the anger out. I 
have two children. I am married. In the night, I start to think about 
them, what they will do if I do not come back. But during the clashes, I 
try not think about it.”

The protests are led by youth and not any particular political party.

Khaled (also a pseudonym), a 21-year-old student from the Ramallah 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/ramallah> area, said the 
Palestinian Authority’s only role has been to try to stop them.

“Their role is to bring down the spirit of the people. It does not 
support us,” he said.


    Palpable frustration

Their frustration is palpable and has sparked a debate among analysts 
and journalists whether this could be termed a third intifada. But the 
youths themselves seem not to care much about designation.

“First intifada, second intifada, it doesn’t matter. The intifada is 
connected to the occupation,” said Mahmoud, “and so it will continue. It 
is an ongoing process.”

The following series of photographs were taken at protests in the West 
Bank and Gaza Strip in the past four months. The quotations included are 
from the two Palestinian youths interviewed, neither of whom are 
featured in the photos.

/Images by Activestills photographers Anne Paq in Bethlehem, Ezz 
Al-Zanoon in the Gaza Strip, Mohannad Darabee in the Ramallah area, Oren 
Ziv in Bethlehem and the Ramallah area. Photo editing by Shiraz Grinbaum. /

/Activestills is an independent collective based in Israel/Palestine 
which uses photography as a tool for social and political change./

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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