Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine
Babak Salari Palestine

Babak Salari / PHOTOGRAPHY
Palestine: Forbidden Land

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Palestine: Forbidden Land

photograpy by Babrak salary

Where should we go after the last frontiers?

Where should the birds fly after the last sky?

Mahmoud Darwish

Off the Wall

Palestine: Forbidden Land

Twenty-seven years ago, on my escape from the repressive Iranian regime and into exile, a Palestinian student in Quieta, Pakistan, generously opened his house and heart to me. Our shared experience of displacement, our sorrow at the loss of our cherished homes, meant we formed an instant connection.

Twenty-three years later, on returning from war-torn Iraq, I went to Palestine. It was February, 2004, and I wanted to observe the plight of this occupied land and its tormented and dispossessed people. I was deeply moved by the depth of Palestinian resistance, endurance and humanity.

In occupied Palestine, military commanders have issued 1300 military order in last 35 years, depriving the Palestinian people of the right to move freely in their own land. Meanwhile, Israeli citizens circulate freely.

In Palestine, it is forbidden:

The military commander can close off any sector and block traffic without notice, decide what books are allowed or forbidden in schools and colleges, confiscate any land for public security or because of an owner’s absence, etc. I witnessed a besieged people holding on to their land, dignity, culture in dire conditions. I witnessed the relentless attack by one of the most sophisticated armies in the world against Palestinian livelihoods, against vineyards and farms, schools, hospitals and homes.

Off the Wall consists of a small part of my photos from Palestine. They document a society paralyzed by war and destruction. This gallery will be a tribute to the resistance of Palestinian people, and a hope for a better future.

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