Monday, August 22

Images from a Violent Society


I live in Jaffa, an ancient seaport, once "the Bride of the Sea" or the "Bride of Palestine, today a slummy suburb of the Tel Aviv.
Adjami, to be more precise, is home. A very beautiful as well as ugly, violent and tough neighborhood .
Close to the sea and "Givat HaZevel", the rubbish mountain, which covers the once beautiful beach of Jabaliyeh and Adjami.

Most of my neighbors are Palestinians or "Israeli Arabs" or "Arabs from 1948" (selecting the correct term is more than just semantics). Some are Jewish Israelis, some rich, some poor.
I live here, because i chose to live here. And it is an ongoing decision
(Will i be here, 5 years from now?). There are so many problems here, violence, drugs, extreme poverty. But there is also so much warmth and the people are so "real". There is so much beauty and yes, it is romantic too.

An emotional choice, for many and complex reasons. It's where i create and where my images come from.
Words aren't really my preferred media.

It's where i live, love and create and try to survive.

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