Now this is interesting:
TEL AVIV (AFP) – Young Palestinians and Israelis from settlements in the divided West Bank town of Hebron who would normally not exchange a word have been brought together through the power of the lens.Israeli photographer Menahem Kahana and his Palestinian colleague, Hazem Bader, loaned digital cameras for 18 months to members of both communities to record the everday events of their lives.Out of a total of 5,000 photographs, 68 shots have gone on show this week at a Tel Aviv exhibition, along with 28 pictures taken by the two AFP staffers.In a rare event, Palestinian families — authorised for the first time in years to enter Israel — have brushed shoulders at the exhibiting gallery with families from the Jewish enclave in Hebron.Two photos stand out: one of Palestinian girl Rajaa Abu Eisheh taking a picture of Tuvia Ben Yitzhak as he also takes a shot, and another seen simultaneously from the perspective of the Israeli youth.Four Palestinian and three Israeli families took part in the project, but two of them — that of a rabbi, Ben Yitzhak, with his 14 children and the Abu Eisheh trading family — were the main actors.The pictures show scenes of conflict, joy, celebrations and the daily hardships of life in a city where Israeli soldiers are omnipresent.Most of the Israeli shots were taken outdoors, showing feast days or sporting events, while the Palestinian photographers focused more on indoor scenes.Israel withdrew from 80 percent of Hebron in 1997, holding on to an enclave around the Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims alike, where some 600 settlers live in the midst of 120,000 Palestinians.
Update: Here’s a link to the exhibit.
