Jenin Refugee Camp, July 2024
I know I should write something to provide context for these pictures.
Should I begin by explaining what a refugee camp in Palestine is, how and when these camps were created?
Should I start by telling you where the city of Jenin is located, or how many people live there?
Or perhaps, should I describe the feeling of walking through its torn-up roads, surrounded by crumbling buildings, with kids coming out of a summer camp, telling you their dream is to become a shaheed (=martyr) because Israel has wiped out the dreams and hopes of entire generations, leaving them with one last, inevitable perspective: death, and nothing more?
I don’t think I’m the right person to write about this: my words are inadequate. I myself feel inadequate, and I could never fully capture someone else’s life under such a violent occupation, especially when I have the privilege of being there for only a few hours, maybe days, and then returning to a safe home where no one can sneak in and arrest or kill me for liking a post on social media. The only thing I can do is share with you what my eyes witnessed last month in one of the many places in Palestine where the army’s presence threatens the existence of all the people living in the area, day and night.
I wish I could let you hear all their voices, meet their gazes, hold all of their hands so that you could feel and understand what it means to live in constant fear, waiting to be the next. But I also wish I could share with you their jokes, their laughter, and let you see those mouths opening to reveal hopeful smiles, to show you the unbreakable spirit of the Palestinian people in the camps.
A special thanks to Michela
@michimenti for holding my hand during all the tough moments of this trip.
And a special, huge thanks to W. and her family for letting us in their reality.
