{"id":3574,"date":"2017-09-06T19:44:55","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T19:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/?p=3574"},"modified":"2017-09-11T19:50:01","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T19:50:01","slug":"palestinian-artist-gives-voice-to-unrecognized-villages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/?p=3574","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian artist gives voice to unrecognized villages"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/authors\/ahmed-el-komi.html\"><span class=\"byline-name\">Ahmed el-Komi<\/span><\/a><span class=\"span6 dateline\" title=\"September 6, 2017 05:47 GMT-04:00\">\u00a0September 6, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3575\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3575\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3575\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Untitled-2-870-300x163.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Untitled-2-870-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Untitled-2-870-768x417.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Untitled-2-870.jpg 870w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3575\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mohamed BadarnePalestinian photographer Mohamed Badarne captures the sadness and joy of Bedouin children in the Negev in his photographic series &#8220;Unrecognized Games,&#8221; Undated, Negev, Israel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"essay\">GAZA STRIP, Gaza City \u2014 Six children sit\u00a0amid the leafless branches of a tree in an arid, barren\u00a0landscape,\u00a0a small weary-looking shed in the distance. The image, a photograph by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbadarne.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mohamed Badarne<\/a>,\u00a0is part of \u201cUnrecognized Games,\u201d a series featuring\u00a0children from\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hic-gs.org\/document.php?pid=2670\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">45 unrecognized villages<\/a>\u00a0in Israel&#8217;s\u00a0Negev Desert, where more than\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2017\/07\/israel-bedouin-polygamy-ayelet-shaked-justice-minister.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">75,000 Bedouin<\/a>\u00a0live.\u00a0Badarne told Al-Monitor that he wants to\u00a0pose one key question through his work on the Bedouin: \u201cWhy is Israel destroying Negev villages?\u201d Answering his own question, he replied,\u00a0\u201cIsrael wants to eliminate the\u00a0Palestinian presence from the pre-1948 territories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The term \u201cunrecognized village\u201d stems from Israel\u2019s refusal to recognize Bedouin\u00a0ownership of the land\u00a0on which they have settled\u00a0in the Negev, where they have had a presence since the\u00a0seventh century, well before Israel&#8217;s establishment. As the Bedouin lack\u00a0deeds or documentation of ownership,\u00a0Israel refuses to provide their settlements with\u00a0public services \u2014 that is,\u00a0water, electricity, waste disposal\u00a0and education and health facilities. In addition, the\u00a0Bedouins&#8217;\u00a0homes are under the\u00a0constant\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2017\/01\/israel-arab-joint-list-odeh-umm-al-hiran-bedouin-village.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">threat of demolition<\/a>, because Israel considers them to have been\u00a0illegally\u00a0built. For instance, on Aug. 31, Israeli\u00a0authorities used\u00a0bulldozers to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/20170831-israel-demolitions-arab-properties-in-the-negev\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">destroy\u00a0containers<\/a>\u00a0used for storage\u00a0as well as olive trees in several villages.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, the Israeli government approved the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/government-shelves-prawer-plan-on-bedouin-settlement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prawer Plan<\/a>,\u00a0which aimed to\u00a0move thousands of Bedouins, against their will, from their villages and resettle them in urban communities. The Bedouin, who\u00a0live a semi-nomadic lifestyle,\u00a0opposed the\u00a0plan, emphasizing\u00a0their\u00a0historical ownership of the land.\u00a0The United Nations has been calling on Israel to\u00a0\u201crecognize and respect the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dukium.org\/unrecognized-villages\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">specific rights<\/a>\u00a0of its Bedouin communities, including recognition of Bedouin land ownership claims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Life in the Negev, given the absence of public services and the state&#8217;s destruction of personal property,\u00a0is\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2015\/07\/palestine-negev-israel-settlements-against-prawer-plan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">insecure\u00a0and tough<\/a>, but the children Badarne\u00a0has photographed have nonetheless managed to turn their\u00a0surroundings into a playground: They climb trees; they play with the remains of\u00a0broken or discarded\u00a0objects; they run around on the sandy stretches of land and\u00a0amuse themselves in front of a broken television set.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChildren make toys out of nothing. They create\u00a0their own\u00a0heaven among the rubble,\u201d\u00a0Badarne\u00a0remarked.\u00a0\u201cI watched children playing atop power generators, knowing that they have no electricity to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Badarne\u00a0visited the Negev on numerous occasions\u00a0between 2013 and 2015 and built relationships with the people he photographed.\u00a0\u201cThe photos focus on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/arabca.net\/?mod=articles&amp;ID=223\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Negev children<\/a>\u00a0and aim\u00a0to show the struggle to survive despite the difficult living [conditions],\u201d\u00a0Badarne said.\u00a0\u201cThese\u00a0candid shots are\u00a0to try to create local and global awareness about the situation in the Negev.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnrecognized Games\u201d\u00a0was shown in Gaza City\u00a0in March 2015, shortly after Badarne finished working\u00a0on\u00a0the series. \u201cThe same Israeli hand is destroying Gaza and Negev,\u201d is how he described\u00a0the aim of the exhibit there.\u00a0In June 2016, the work was mounted in\u00a0Berlin\u00a0as part of the opening of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.qadita.net\/featured\/badarneh-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Palestinian Days<\/a>,\u00a0an\u00a0annual festival\u00a0organized by the Committee for Solidarity with Palestinians.\u00a0The artist\u00a0also displayed the photographs\u00a0this April during\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.arab48.com\/%D9%81%D8%B3%D8%AD%D8%A9\/%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84\/2017\/04\/13\/%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%A3%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%BA%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%81-%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A9-%7C-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%A9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Israeli Apartheid Week<\/a>\u00a0in Doha.\u00a0The series will travel to Belgium for an exhibition,\u00a0beginning Oct. 2, organized by the Committee for Solidarity of Palestinians and the Municipality of Brussels.<\/p>\n<p>Badarne was born in 1978 in the village of Arraba, in the Galilee. He has\u00a0volunteered in refugee camps in the West Bank, where he organized a human rights movement with the young Palestinians living there. Until 2012, he earned a living as a high school teacher and as a\u00a0project coordinator for a nongovernmental organization in the region. He then decided to devote\u00a0his time to photography, offering workshops to aspiring photographers as well as\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lensculture.com\/mohamed-badarne\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">taking photos<\/a>\u00a0of his own.<\/p>\n<p>Badarne has assembled a large portfolio\u00a0of images of the many aspects of Palestinian life,\u00a0from children who\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbadarne.com\/edge-of-hope\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">work on the streets<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0daily life\u00a0of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbadarne.com\/come-back-safely\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">construction workers<\/a>. Badarne remarked,\u00a0\u201cMy aim is not to [just] take photos, but to create a narrative with them and use photography to cast an eye on the unseen, under the slogan of \u2018art for change.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Displaying his photographs abroad, Badarne said,\u00a0has helped raise awareness of the Palestinian cause, and he hopes that it has increased support for it. \u201cThis is what it means to mobilize art and use it to serve national\u00a0interests,\u201d he said, adding that such\u00a0shows\u00a0inform people\u00a0that the Palestinians are not only concentrated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but also living\u00a0in Israel, including the Negev.\u00a0\u201cMy aim is to ensure that humanity, rather than injustice, dominates Palestinian lands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hussam Salem,\u00a0a Palestinian photographer from Gaza who has worked with Badarne, praised his\u00a0work in \u201cdepicting reality through his photos and helping Palestine.\u201d He told al-Monitor,\u00a0\u201cA picture is worth a thousand words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Salem believes\u00a0that\u00a0Badarne\u2019s images, like those of other\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/ru\/contents\/articles\/originals\/2017\/07\/thousand-photos-of-hope-pain-in-gaza.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Palestinian photographers<\/a>, show that life is worthwhile despite all its attendant\u00a0difficulties. \u201cA simple photo with a human touch satisfies you\u00a0and reflects the concerns, happiness and sadness of that forgotten person in an unrecognized village. It gives them a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2017\/09\/negev-children-turn-to-nature-as-toys.html\">Source:\u00a0http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2017\/09\/negev-children-turn-to-nature-as-toys.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ahmed el-Komi\u00a0September 6, 2017 GAZA STRIP, Gaza City \u2014 Six children sit\u00a0amid the leafless branches of a tree in an arid, barren\u00a0landscape,\u00a0a small weary-looking shed in the distance. The image, a photograph by\u00a0Mohamed Badarne,\u00a0is part of \u201cUnrecognized Games,\u201d a series featuring\u00a0children from\u00a0the\u00a045 unrecognized villages\u00a0in Israel&#8217;s\u00a0Negev Desert, where more than\u00a075,000 Bedouin\u00a0live.\u00a0Badarne told Al-Monitor that he wants &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3574"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3578,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574\/revisions\/3578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}