It is difficult to summarize and reflect on 365 days, especially in a place as eventful as Palestine-Israel. This year, Activestills photographers covered hundreds of events, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The following selection is a narrow peek into the amazing struggles and troubling events that took place in 2013.
For a wider selection of 2013’s best photos, visit ActiveStills’ new website.
Photos by: Oren Ziv, Yotam Ronen, Keren Manor, Anne Paq, Ahmad al-Bazz, Ryan Rodrick Beiler, Hamde Abu-Rahme, Tali Mayer, Shiraz Grinbaum / Activestills.org
The Palestinian tent camp Bab al-Shams (Gate of the Sun), being constructed by the Popular Committees in the ‘E1’ area, West Bank, January 11, 2013. The camp holds 25 tents. (Activestills.org)
The snow covered ruins of Al-Mufakara village mosque, South Hebron, seen on January 9, 2013. (Activestills.org)
An Israeli prison guard escorts Samer Issawi, a Palestinian political prisoner, out of his court hearing in Jerusalem’s civil court, January 16, 2013. Samer Issawi is on his 174th day of hunger strike, the court postponed the decision in his case to the 5th of February, 2013. (Activestills.org)
A Palestinian youth throws back a tear gas canister shot by the Israel army during the weekly protest against the occupation and settlements in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on January 4th, 2013.Under military order 101, all protests organized by Palestinians in the West Bank are deemed illegal by the Israeli authorities and are routinely dispersed, leading to fatalities, injuries and arbitrary arrests. (Activestills.org)
Israeli soldiers arrest a child during the weekly demonstration in Kufr Qaddum, a West bank village located east of Qalqiliya, on January 25, 2013. There have been regular demonstrations in Kufr Qaddum since July, 2011, protesting the blocking of the main road east of the village which used to link it to Nablus. The child was later released. (Activestills.org)
Released political prisoner Bassem Tamimi hugs his wife Neriman during his welcoming party at his home in Nabi Saleh, after spending thre months in an Israeli jail, February 10, 2013. Tamimi was arrested during an action calling for the boycott of settlement products inside an Israeli supermarket located in the West Bank settlement of Geva Binyamin. (Activestills.org)
Palestinian children walk by destroyed buildings belonging Interior Ministry’s civil department, which was heavily bombed during last November’s Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, February 10, 2013. For the full reportage on Gaza’s aftermath visit here. (Activestills.org)
Friends evacuate a Palestinian boy who was shot twice with live ammunition by Israeli forces during clashes in Aida Refugee Camp in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, February 25, 2013. The clashes were in response to the death of Arafat Jaradat, who died after being interrogated in Israeli custody. (Activestills.org)
Israeli settlers and Palestinian demonstrators throw stones at each other, after settlers marched onto the lands of the West Bank villages of Deir Jarir and Silwad, where villagers were protesting construction on their land by members of the nearby Jewish settlement of Ofra, May 3, 2013. After two hours of clashes, Border Police officers arrested one settler and let all the others escape. (Activestills.org)
Activists hold banners in front of the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, as a protest against U.S. military support for Israel, March 22, 2013. (Activestills.org)
Palestinian youth take cover behind a makeshift protection barrier during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Old City of Hebron after the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh who died in Israeli custody two days earlier, Hebron, West Bank April 4, 2013. Hamdiyeh died shortly after being transferred to Soroka Hospital from prison in late March, suffering from throat cancer which had spread to his spinal cord. Before his death, he had complained of medical neglect by the Israeli prison authorities. (Activestills.org)
Palestinians march through the streets of Bethlehem to commemorate the Nakba, May 14, 2013. The Nakba, literally, the “catastrophe”, is the name Palestinians use for the events that include when Palestinian refugees were driven out of what became the State of Israel in 1948. Palestinians march through the streets of Bethlehem to commemorate the Nakba, May 14, 2013. (Activestills.org)
A young woman runs past the slogans “Free Palestine” and “Hope” painted on the Israeli separation wall as hundreds of Palestinian and international athletes took part in the the inaugural Palestine Marathon, which took place in Bethlehem, West Bank, April 21, 2013. Under the banner, ‘Right to Movement,’ runners had to complete two laps of the same route, as organizers were unable to find a course of 42 uninterrupted kilometers under Palestinian Authority control. (Activestills.org)
A woman from the Palestinian Ghaith family stands amidst the remains of her home, demolished by Jerusalem municipality workers in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of at-Tur, April 29, 2013. (Activestills.org)
Public housing activists hold a mock ceremony awarding Yaakov Brosh, the director of Amidar public housing company, a ¨prize” for his ‘contribution to the eviction of families from their homes onto the street’, May 19, 2013. (Activestills.org)
Israeli border policemen arrest a Palestinian photographer during clashes that erupted on ‘Jerusalem Day’. Damascus Gate, East Jerusalem, May 8, 2013. More than 42 Palestinians were arrested throughout the day, including four journalists. ‘Jerusalem Day’ is an Israeli holiday which celebrates capturing East Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six-Day War of 1967. Though Israel then annexed East Jerusalem and considers it a part of the State of Israel, the move was never recognized internationally and East Jerusalem is still considered occupied Palestinian territory under international law. (Activestills.org)
Demonstrators march in Habima Square in central Tel Aviv, during a protest against the privatization of natural gas found in the Mediterranean Sea, May 25, 2013. (Activestills.org)
Bedouin women from unrecognized villages in the Negev Desert chant slogans before an Anti Prawer-Begin Plan demonstrations, Rahat, Negev Desert, June 28, 2013. The mass demonstration in Rahat was held against the Prawer-Begin Plan, an Israeli government master plan aimed at displacing more than 30,000 Bedouins from their native lands. Earlier that week, the parliament voted in favour of its implementation. (Activestills.org)
Israeli social justice protestors commemorating a year since Moshe Silman self immolated and two years since the start of Israel’s social protests, June 13, 2013. (Activestills.org)
Palestinians use a ladder to climb over the Israeli wall in a-Ram, north of Jerusalem, on their way to al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem to attend the second Friday prayer in the fasting month of Ramadan, 19 July 2013. (Activestills.org)
Border police officers stand in front of Palestinians as they wait to cross from the Qalandiya checkpoint outside Ramallah, West Bank, into Jerusalem to attend the Ramadan Friday Prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, July 26, 2013. (Activestills.org)
Israeli animal rights activists take part in a protest for animal liberation, central Tel Aviv, August 24, 2013. (Activestills.org)
Palestinians from the West Bank enjoy the Mediterranean Sea on the last day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, Tel Aviv, August 11, 2013. The three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. The Israeli army generally issues entry permits to Palestinians during Ramadan, allowing many to visit the beach for the first time. (Activestills.org)
Palestinians and international activists connect a 700-meter water pipe to Palestinian families’ houses in Fasa’il Al Wusta, Jordan Valley, August 17, 2013. According to Jordan Valley Solidarity, communities in the Jordan Valley survive on 20 liters of water per person a day. The World Health Organization recommends 100 liters. In the adjacent illegal Israeli settlements in Jordan Valley, average water consumption is 451 liters per person a day. (Activestills.org)
A Palestinian shepherd walks with his sheep in the destroyed West Bank village of Khirbet al-Makhoul, Jordan Valley, October 9, 2013. The Israeli army demolished Khirbet al-Makhoul twice in the preceding weeks. The army also prevented humanitarian aid organizations from delivering tents and aid to residents. A month later, the village found itself in the headlines when Israeli soldiers were filmed scuffling with a French diplomat who was attempting to deliver aid to villagers. (Activestills.org)
Burhan Basharat, father of eight girls, sits in the remains of his destroyed home in West Bank village of Khirbet Makhoul, Jordan Valley, October 9, 2013. Khirbet Makhoul has been demolished twice in the last weeks by the Israeli army. The army also prevented humanitarian aid organizations from delivering tents and aid to residents. A month later, the village found itself in the headlines when Israeli soldiers were filmed scuffling with a French diplomat who was attempting to deliver aid to villagers. (Activestills.org)
Muhammad Amira, a Palestinian farmer, climbs a ladder next to the separation wall in order to see if Israeli soldiers have arrived to open the agricultural gate in his village, Ni’lin, West Bank, October 21, 2013. After the building of the wall in the West Bank village of Ni’lin, many farmers were separated from their agriculture land. In order to work in this land, they need to apply for permits from the Israeli army to cross the Wall. Together with Haggai Matar, we reported on the problem here. (Activestills.org)
Palestinian Subhiya Abu Rahme cleans the memorial monument of her son, Bassem who was shot to death by an Israeli soldier during a protest in the village in 2009; October 4, 2013. The garden was set with many flowers put in empty gas canisters and inaugurated during the eight Bil’in popular struggle conference. Weeks earlier, the Israeli army closed its investigation into Bassem’s death without handing down any indictments. Activestills did additional reporting into the way the international media portrayed the tear gas garden here. (Activestills.org)
Family members and friends celebrate as they wait in the Mukata Presidential Compound for the release of Palestinians prisoners, Ramallah, West Bank, October, 29, 2013. Twenty-six Palestinian prisoners from Gaza and the West Bank were set to be released part of the second stage of a prisoner release deal secured by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of renewed peace talks. A total of 104 Palestinian prisoners, all jailed before the start of the Oslo Peace Talks 20 years ago, are eventually supposed to be released over the next seven months. (Activestills.org)
Residents of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on the village’s case, Jerusalem, November 20, 2013. Villagers are requesting the state recognize their right to live in their village. Ten days earlier, the Israeli government approved a plan to destroy Umm al-Hiran and build a Jewish settlement named Hiran on its ruins. (Activestills.org)
Palestinian activists break a hole in the Israeli Separation Wall dividing land belonging to the West Bank town of Al Khader in the late night hours of November 22, 2013. See full Holes in the Wall reportage on Activestills Website.(Activestills.org)
Absiya Jafari, over 100 years old, holds a Palestinian passport issued during the British Mandate belonging to her husband and herself, Al Walaja, West Bank, November 23, 2013. The separation wall is currently being built all around the village and residents will be cut off from most of their land. For more of the story see A Letter from Al-Walaja. (Activestills.org)
Sheik Sayah Aturi is welcomed by family members and activists as he walks out from the Be’er Sheva Court, following his release from jail, November 28, 2013. Sayah was arrested on November 20, after his village al-Araqib was demolished by Israeli authorities. He remained in jail for over a week because he refused to sign an order to stay away from his own land. The court decided to release him to a week of house arrest outside his village. (Activestills.org)
‘5 Broken Cameras’ director and Emmy Award winner Emad Burnat holds his award in front of the Israeli wall, during the weekly demo against the wall and occupation in the West Bank village of Bi’lin, Novmber 29,2013. The village celebrated return of Burnat to Bil’in in the weekly demonstration.
Israeli Bedouin youth throw stones at police during a Day of Rage protest against the Prawer-Begin Plan, on road 31 near Hura, Israel, on November 30, 2013. Police fired tear gas and arrested at least 10 protesters. Activists declared a ‘day of rage’ across Israel and Palestine in protest against the Israeli government’s Prawer-Begin Plan, which if implemented will displace tens of thousands of Bedouin citizens from their homes in the Negev desert. See full coverage from five different cities of Day of Rage events Here.
A protester holding a poster with Nelson Mandela’s portrait, during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, December 7, 2013. The demonstration marked four years to the Popular Struggle in Nabi Saleh, while commemorating the killing of Mustafa Tamimi and Rushdi Tamimi by Israeli army forces, and 26 years since the first Intifada.
Bedouin youth riding a horse in the Negev, Israel, December 10, 2013. According to the published Israeli Prawer-Begin plan map, some 40,000 Bedouin are planed to be displace and around 250,000 dunams of Bedouin land are going to be expropriated by the state.
African refugees and Israeli activists walk along Road 40 in the south of Israel as part of a protest march against ‘Holot’ detention center, Negev, Israel, December 16, 2013. The refugees were marching from the ‘Holot’, close to the Israeli-Egyptian border, and reached Jerusalem, protesting against the Israeli government’s decision to jail them without trial in a new facility. They were demanding to be recognized as refugees by the Israeli government and Israel’s Supreme Court. See full reportage of March For Freedom, and Read more here. (Activestills.org)
A handcuffed African asylum seeker shouts as he sits inside a police bus. He was arrested by immigration authorities during a solidarity ‘March for Freedom,’ Negev, Israel, December 19, 2013. The march set out from the Holot detention center and aimed to reach the southern city of Be’er Sheva to show solidarity with the ‘March For Freedom arrestees,’ demanding freedom and recognition of refugee rights. Israeli immigration officers arrested over 100 of them and sent them back to prison. See full reportage of March For Freedom, and Read more here. (Activestills.org)
Palestinian youth stand on a rooftop in Aida Refugee Camp overlooking the Israeli separation wall and snow-covered olive groves on the other side, Bethlehem, West Bank, December 14, 2013. Palestine saw heavier-than-usual snowfall in a storm that blanketed much of the region. (Activestills.org)
Palestinians residents of Shua’fat refugee camp celebrating the release of Abu Naser Dahadgni, East Jerusalem , 31 December, 2013. Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of the third stage of the negotiation between the PA and Israel. (Activestills.org)