Conflict: Occupied West Bank
A Photographic Study on the Palestinian Struggle in the 21st Century by Yahya Aitabi
The Palestinian struggle has been a conflict in which I have had a deep connection to from a young age. I wanted to witness for myself the reality of this struggle and therefore decided the best way to do that was to actually travel to the region. I joined the International Solidarity Movement a nonviolent Palestinian-lead movement focused on assisting the Palestinian cause. I embedded myself with activists from across the world and very quickly found myself in the frontline of the conflict.
I spent four weeks living in Hebron’s restricted zone where I witnessed the mass control of people by the military and the illegal land grabs by extreme ideological settlers living in illegal settlements. Witnessing the large scale control of movement imposed by the military on an indigenous people in their indigenous land was incredibly disturbing. The military enforced tight control and strict orders on people wishing to cross a 10 meter wall in order to visit family and pray in mosques. What I was witnessing was almost surreal, it reflected scenes of South African Apartheid. I spent countless days photographing this large scale movement of people under the authoritative command from the military.
I hope my photographs help shed light into the struggle of the people it captures.
Yahya Aitabi
Yahya Aitabi is a student photographer and a final year medic at Anglia Ruskin University. More of his work will be featured in the up-and-coming Issue 1 of SIX SEVEN.
