Photo exhibition spotlights joy, agony and daily life for Israelis and Palestinians

Protesters take part in a demonstration of rage after a mass rally, following the murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Carmel Gat by Hamas terrorists in a tunnel, where they were held captive in Gaza (Photo: Tomer Appelbaum, Haaretz)[Missing Credit]

“You have images of people at funerals of Israeli soldiers, and you have images from Palestinian journalists and journalists in Gaza. You have returned hostages, and you have Jewish victims of terrorism in the West Bank, but also Jewish extremists committing violence in the West Bank. It's holding complicity. It’s holding multiple truths.”

Davidi- Brown said that the exhibition doesn’t push a political narrative - “I guess we're pushing a narrative of humanity for all the people living on the land. We're showing the human story that is the motivation for us to seek a better future for everyone living through that story.”

Residents of Rehovot walk through debris of building following a direct Iranian missile strike (Photo: Avishag Shaar - Yashuv, the New York Times)[Missing Credit]

While he expected most visitors to the exhibition to come from the Jewish community, he hopes that non-Jewish people will also come through its doors. “We want people to understand that in Britain right now, there's a very hostile, polarised conversation about Israel and Palestine, but this exhibition shows you that it's much more complex than that.

“As someone who recently spoke at an event about said: ‘You don't have to choose a side, you can take a stand.’ And we would encourage people to take a stand that is on behalf of all the people, Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Muslims and Christians.”

Dana Wohlfeiler-Lalkin, curator of Local Testimony, said: “It’s very important thing for me in local testimony, and in general to try to evoke critical thought. Things are not always as we see them, and I think that we should also put our gaze to the unpleasant things that are happening in our area. For example, the photos here which shows the violence in the occupied territories, violence of Israelis, of settlers.”

David Davidi-Brown and Dana Wohlfeiler-Lalkin[Missing Credit]

Itai Ron, a photographer for Haaretz, has two photos in the exhibition. One of them, which won the Roee Idan Photo of the Year Prize, shows shadows of Strictly Orthodox men and IDF soldiers in the Palestinian village of Kifl Harris during a pilgrimage to what is believed to be the grave of the biblical leader Yehoshua ben Nun. During these events, Palestinian residents are under curfew, and soldiers guard the worshippers.

Itai Ron with his winning photograph[Missing Credit]

Ron told the JC: “Most Israelis [who look at the photo] will see religious people that don't go to the army and don't pay taxes and soldiers who save, and serve, and they will think the idea is the contrast between the religious [people] and the soldiers. That is the obvious reality.

“But for me, the wall is the real reality, because what happened behind the wall is that the Palestinians are locked inside the house and they can't go out.”

‘Testimonies from a Troubled Land’ is running until June 12. Pre-booking is essential: newisraelfund.org.uk/exhibit-visit/ or click here