SALLAHM

All war, hatred, racism, oppression and terror aside (i know that that is a lot to put aside, especially given the context but just bare with me a minute...)

Both sides are fucking up in big ways with regards to the landscape and environment

Seems to me that all the fighting is about the land

In this us vs. them battle, the land has become nothing but a pawn, a concept, a strategy in this struggle.

forgetting the true importance of why this place is so special, removed from its physicality, cultural importance and connection to season and agriculture.

ours, not theirs is the rhetoric from wherever you're standing. 

looking from hill to hill

looking from jew to arab

looking from arab to jew

I wish it were that easy to explain.

"hey everyone, we all love this land, can't we just share it! treat her kindly and continue practicing our rituals with tolerance and patience!"

I'm pretty sure the concept (the words exist) of patience doesn't directly translate into hebrew or arabic. 

hahaha

here are some drawings I hung in Benji's Vanishing Landscapes exhibition. A visual commentary on contemporary land occupation strategies of Israel and Palestine. Hung as a triptych using our view from Abu Fahkris Lab as direct inspiration. Har Homa (Israeli settlement) on the left, No Mans Land (where we live) middle, the Agglomeration of Bethlehem (Palestine) on the right.

(click to images to enlarge)