Stunning New Book Explores Symbolism of West Bank Barrier | Publishing Perspectives
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Stunning New Book Explores
Symbolism of West Bank Barrier
Read more by Edward Nawotka
October 1, 2013
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Olivia Snaije, our long-serving contributing editor from Paris, has spent the last
several years working on a book that is close to her heart: Keep Your Eye on the
Wall: Palestinian Landscapes. The book brings together photographers, essayists,
and a fiction writer to comment and reflect on the presence of the enormous
barrier wall (others call it a security wall) snaking through hundreds of kilometers
of the West Bank, separating Palestinians from Israelis.
The book Keep Your Eye on the Wall: Paysages Palestiniens was published in July
in France by Editions Textuel, and in English this month by Saqi Books in the
UK. A gorgeous object in itself, it is hand-bound in concertina format —
Author Bill
Thomson on
Storytelling
Without
Words
Exprima
Talks: Peter
Meyers,
Content
Innovation at
Citia
mimicking the undulating form of the barrier itself.
We spoke with Olivia about the project,
its intent and what she hopes readers
will take away from the book.
What was the conception of the book — the general idea behind it? Is
this a personal or a political tome?
My co-editor Mitch Albert and I have both been interested in the Middle East for a
long time and have actively worked in magazine and book publishing related to
the Middle East. We initially thought of putting together a book of photographs of
the graffiti that covers the Separation Wall in the West Bank, but we realized that
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Stunning New Book Explores Symbolism of West Bank Barrier | Publishing Perspectives
16/05/2014 12:46
other people were doing this as well and,
moreover, that they all tended to be
Westerners. We thought it would be
better to have Palestinian art
photographers express themselves as
they are the ones most affected by the
Wall. The idea is for people to realize the
scale of this concrete mass, which defies
international law, United Nations
Security Council resolutions, and basic
human decency.
Why is it particularly relevant
now, considering the state of
relations between Palestine and
Israel?
With all the talk first of the Arab Spring and then “Winter,” the problem of the
Israeli-Palestine conflict remains unresolved and has been this way for 65
years. The situation just keeps worsening, and no one seems to be paying attention
in a way that will significantly change how Palestinians live.
There were numerous contributors. How did you find them? Did you
seek them out?
We looked for the best Palestinian art photographers around. There are many
talented Palestinian visual artists on the scene; many live in exile, others in
Palestine and Jerusalem. The only photographer who is not Palestinian is Kai
Wiedenhofer, a German who began his career when the Berlin Wall fell and has
worked in the Middle East for over 20 years. There are also four essays in the
book, one by a sociologist specializing in walls as units of political and social
division; a writer and curator who specializes in Middle Eastern visual culture; a
young Palestinian fiction writer who wrote a short story for us; and a very personal
narrative by an Israeli activist who also describes the very complicated system of
roads and checkpoints around the Wall. There is an introduction in the English
edition by Raja Shehadeh, an acclaimed writer and human rights lawyer, and in
the French edition of the book the introduction is by the writer and Palestinian
Ambassador to UNESCO, Elias Sanbar.
Can you cite some of your favorite passages from the book? Why are
they relevant to you?
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Stunning New Book Explores Symbolism of West Bank Barrier | Publishing Perspectives
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One favorite passage is by Malu Halasa, who poses the question of whether or not
the Wall should be aestheticized, as an object in art or for art. She summarizes the
point like this:
”The debate over the value of representing the architecture of
oppression in art or leaving it alone in the name of resisting
normalisation is useful and necessary. However, for artists inside
and outside the region, it is not possible to remain neutral on the
issue. Those who elect to include the Wall in their work seem to
invite and provoke reflection on several questions centred on power
and its prerogatives. Given the choice, they seem to ask, where
would you like to live? On one side or another of a very high wall,
or in countries where there a fruitful dialogue between neighbours
is possible, and Separation Walls no longer exist?”
In Adania Shibli’s short story, a man’s beloved view from his house eventually
becomes completely blocked off by the construction of a mysterious wall in front
of his house:
“He would prepare his coffee, take it out to the terrace and sit with
his back to the house, facing the yard and the row of trees that
separated it from the river running behind it. He would watch the
first ray of light reach the top of the last tree in the row, gradually
extend to the rest of the tree, then the adjacent two trees, then the
rest of the row, and finally the yard. He felt himself just like that
light, capable of moving effortlessly through the space before him,
with nothing to stand in his way.”
What do people commonly misunderstand about the Wall and its
meaning/significance?
A very common argument, which is essentially based on claims by the Israeli
government itself, is that the Wall is a security measure that has proven itself
effective. A more persuasive argument, for us, maintains that the Wall is a cynical
land grab, placing choice stretches of Palestinian territory firmly into Israeli settler
hands. Even if a deal is worked out, the land now sealed off by the Wall won’t be
returned anytime soon. The rash of suicide bombings in the early 2000s were a
tragic and stomach-turning development, but there is a sense that Israel
capitalized on them in order to fragment Palestine even further. The Separation
Wall is the device it has used to make intentions concrete, literally.
What would you like people to take away from the experience of
reading the book?
We hope that people both familiar and unfamiliar with the area will read the book,
take time to look at these powerful images, read the texts and imagine for
themselves what it is like to live surrounded by a wall of that size. What it feels like
to be closed in, with no possible dialogue. Because at the end of the day, that’s the
biggest casualty of all — the possibility of dialogue, of relating to your neighbor.
The Wall will create two solitudes in our time, and deepen this mutual alienation
for generations to come.
A selection of photos from the book follows:
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Photo by Raeda Saadeh
Photo by Rula Halawani
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Photo by Steve Sabella
Photo by Steve Sabella
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