Salema--Ramallah

“Under occupation, I am a butterfly with broken wings. Without occupation, I would be a butterfly that flies wherever she wants. I would see a lot of things like trees, grass, and flowers--beautiful flowers! I think everybody would have fun—everybody!”

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Palestinians Envision Life Without Occupation

Irum Shiekh | Palestine,

In Summer 2015 in Palestine, I collected photographs and interviews with everyday people living in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Birzeit.  During these interviews, I asked them to imagine their lives without occupation.  The following exhibit provides excerpts from their interviews along with photographs. The purpose of this exhibit is to highlight the resilience of Palestinians living under occupation. The project examines the power of imagination as a resistance strategy that Palestinians under occupation have used while they continue to envision a homeland with prosperity, equality, mobility and stable democratic government.  The interviewees assert that pervasiveness of checkpoints, walls, prisons, killings and restrictions of movement have not deterred them in their struggles for a nation that is free of occupation.  Through this exhibit, I invite the audience to read the narratives along with the photos and explore the agency of interviewees in the advancement of social change and social justice.

 

Irum Shiekh, University of Oregon, Eugene

ishiekh@uoregon.edu

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