No Road To Jerusalem

Palestine Monitor | 19 December 2009

The photo exhibition “Existence denied” (http://www.andrea-magda.com/portfol… realised by photographers Andrea M. and Magda C., http://www.andrea-magda.com/bio.html shows the anguish, humiliation and frustration of the Palestinian worshippers during the period of Ramadan.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

The exhibition is currently hosted at the Alternative Information Center of Beit Shaour, in Behtlehm.

The exhibition documents the ten of thousands Palestinians from all over West Bank who gathered every Friday during ramadan period at the check points in order to enter Jerusalem and pray at Al Aqsa mosque, widely considered as the third holiest site in Islam. Because of hours of queuing under the sun and the risk to be denied to enter, the attempt to reach Al Aqsa can be labeled as an act of heroism.

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) allowed women over 45 and men over 50 only to go. A pre-checkpoint was established in order to “select” people, whereas a number of “candidates” would attempt to enter despite their age not matching with criteria imposed by Israeli military. According to the UN agency OCHA, Israel has prevented more than 40 percent of the West Bank population from entering occupied East Jerusalem for Friday prayers.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

The limitation of access to Jerusalem has raised frustration and humiliation amongst Palestinians from all over the West Bank at check points, which are the only crossings to enter the city. The checkpoint represents a tool of humiliation, the most powerful created by the Israeli system of occupation. The word checkpoint is in hebrew “Machsom’: it means barrier, obstacle. On a semantic level, it reveals the real nature of this concept: rather than a point of crossing established for security purposes, the machsom is a barrier, erected in order to arbitrarily control Palestinians’ movement, “to harass and humiliate”. (Amira Hass Clarifying the occupation lexicon Haaretz, 2003 ). A tool of collective punishment, political repression and land annexation.

If interested in hosting the exhibition, please contact: mad_kamboui@hotmail.com or 00972 (0) 59 85 86 275 or 0033 (0)688 49 99 16

To have a wider view on the exhibition, please visit the following web-site: www.andrea-magda.com

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

Photo by Andrea M. and Magda C.

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