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<h1 class="page__title title balance-text" id="page-title">Portraits
of Palestine’s youth rebellion</h1>
<header class="node__header">
<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/activestills"
typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel"
datatype="">ActiveStills</a></span>
<span class="field field-publisher"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/electronic-intifada"
typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel"
datatype="">The Electronic Intifada</a></span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single" property="dc:date"
datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-01-28T18:57:00+00:00">28
January 2016</span></span></p>
<p class="node__submitted"><span class="field
field-publication-date"><span class="date-display-single"
property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime"
content="2016-01-28T18:57:00+00:00"><b><big>Great Pics here:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/portraits-palestines-youth-rebellion/15426">https://electronicintifada.net/content/portraits-palestines-youth-rebellion/15426</a></big></b><br>
<br>
</span></span> </p>
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<p>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.</p>
<p>Most of this is driven by restive and young people tired of
endless and evidently pointless negotiations between the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/palestinian-authority">Palestinian
Authority</a> and Israel that have brought no end to Israel’s
military occupation and only seen its illegal <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/israeli-settlements">settlements</a>
expand.</p>
<p>“This is our land. We must do anything to free it from
occupation,” says Mahmoud, 26, from <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/al-azzeh-refugee-camp">al-Azzeh
refugee camp</a> in the West Bank city of <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/bethlehem">Bethlehem</a>.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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 <a
href="http://www.ochaopt.org/poc29december-11january-2016.aspx">recorded</a>
a weekly average of 1,000 Palestinian injuries at the hands of the
Israeli army during the last quarter of 2015.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2>Risks</h2>
<p>The youths confronting the Israeli army know all too well the
risks involved.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>The protests are led by youth and not any particular political
party.</p>
<p>Khaled (also a pseudonym), a 21-year-old student from the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/ramallah">Ramallah</a>
area, said the Palestinian Authority’s only role has been to try
to stop them.</p>
<p>“Their role is to bring down the spirit of the people. It does
not support us,” he said.</p>
<h2>Palpable frustration</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>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. </em></p>
<p><em>Activestills is an independent collective based in
Israel/Palestine which uses photography as a tool for social and
political change.</em></p>
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