Palestine Through its People: Portraits of Palestinians

Photo Alamy Stock/Fadel Itani

From the Nakba — a catastrophe marked by the destruction of Palestinian communities and the displacement of a majority of Palestinians from their homes in 1948—to this day, the Palestinian people have experienced constant dispossession, displacement, and the denial of their human rights. The story of this ongoing collective tragedy, and of struggle and steadfastness in the face of unimaginable hardships, is the sum of millions of individual stories that deserve to be told and heard. These are individual tales of painful suffering and untold injustice, as well as of remarkable resilience and human triumph.

This exhibit is inspired by the life work and sacrifice of Shireen Abu Akleh, one of the greatest storytellers of the Palestinian tale, shedding light on the lives of Palestinian victims, restoring their names, proclaiming their rights, resisting attempts to dehumanize them, silence them, deny their plight and their just cause, until the day she became one of them. Shireen wanted the world to know the people behind the story. Her legacy lives on.

This is the story of Palestine through its people, the story of a nation’s suffering and its resilience, against all odds, and in the face of brazen violence and impunity, through the portraits of Palestinians and their long walk to freedom that remains underway.

“The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory - including East Jerusalem - continues to pose a significant challenge to international peace and security. The promise of the independence of the Palestinian state remains unfulfilled. Political, economic and security conditions across the Occupied Palestinian Territory are deteriorating as Palestinians experience high levels of dispossession, violence and insecurity. We urgently need to intensify collective efforts to resolve the conflict and end the occupation in line with United Nations resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements.”

- Secretary-General António Guterres at the opening of the Session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on 8 February 2022

Yasser Murtaja: Armed with a Camera in Gaza

The story of Yasser Murtaja's journey is not only about documenting the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza under Israeli blockade and successive wars, but also about their unbreakable will to defy these circumstances.

Muna El-Kurd: “You are Stealing my House”

This is the cry of one of the iconic twins, Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd, who became the face of Sheikh Jarrah and its resistance against the attempts of Israeli settlers to seize Palestinian homes in Jerusalem and the ongoing attempts to forcibly displace Palestinian families.

Loay Elbasyouni: From Gaza to NASA

The inspiring journey of Loay Elbasyouni, a testimony of what a generation could do if given the opportunity to live and thrive, and of the potential of an entire nation.

Ahed Tamimi: The Palestinian Wonder Girl

The story of Ahed Tamimi and of her family on the frontlines of the struggle to preserve the land and the heavy toll they endure. This is the story of one family among thousands, one village, among hundreds, and of their struggle to preserve their land from the claws of the Israeli occupation’s wall and settlements.

Basil Al Adraa: My Home at the Crosshairs

This is the story of the communities of Massafer Yatta under constant threat of forced displacement, as their land has been designated as a firing zone by Israel, and their deeply rooted determination to remain on their land through the voice and life of Basil Al Adraa.

Zainab Al Qolaq: The Rubble Inside Me

The story of Zainab Al Qolaq, who so tragically and shockingly lost 22 members of her family at age 22. This is the story of the one who survived carrying the heavy memory of those who did not through her art.

Salah Hamouri: Jerusalem, My Home

This is the story of Israel’s attempts to uproot Salah Hamouri from his city, from detention to separation from his loved ones, to revoking his residency right in his own city. Salah is determined to stay in Jerusalem, whatever the cost.

Eyad Al-Hallaq: The Last Hour

For 32 years, Eyad Al-Hallaq’s mom fought against all odds to give her autistic son a decent and safe life. On May 13, 2020, he went to school but was returned a dead body, killed by Israeli occupying forces This is the last hour of Eyad’s life.

Hanan Hroub: The Noble Teacher

Pope Francis announced she was the winner of the world best teacher’s award dubbed the “Nobel prize for education”. Hanan Hroub, a mother of traumatized children, became a teacher to salvage hope and create, to the extent possible under occupation, spaces of nonviolence, to help her children and many other Palestinian children cope and grow, striving to preserve some of their childhood a little bit longer.

Mohammed Al Halabi: The Court of Injustice

The story of Mohammed Al Halabi crushed by a system of injustice, accused with no evidence, detained with no recourse, claiming his innocence in endless Court hearings...to no end.

Rachel Corrie, Palestinian at Heart

The story of an American who stood by the Palestinians until she was killed as one of them. And those responsible were never held to account. Can the peace activist prevail over the bulldozer, the tanks, the bullets? Her body did not, but her beautiful spirit just might.