GAZA: Legacy of Occupation: A Photographer's Journey (Kumarian Press Books for a World That Works) [Paperback]

Dick Doughty (Author), Mohammed El Aydi (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1565490444 | ISBN-13: 978-1565490444 | Publication Date: June 1995

Dick Doughty gained intimate access within the Gaza Strip through his Palestinian host and guide, Mohammed El Aydi. In this personal story and photo essay, Doughty goes beyond stereotypes and provides vivid insights into how Gazans themselves view their lives. In offering a dramatic portrait of one people’s struggle, Gaza casts a compassionate light on today’s ethnic conflicts.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1993, photojournalist Doughty spent time photographing and interviewing Palestinians in refugee camps in Egypt and in the Israeli-held Gaza Strip, now under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Because of cultural barriers in the factionally split, closely monitored camps, and curfews that resulted from fighting between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and settlers, Doughty wasn't able to get a full story. "Much of what I saw and heard and felt could not be photographed," he writes. Still, through his friend and coauthor El Aydi, a Palestinian U.N. social worker, Doughty mingled with residents, including a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the group responsible for attacks on Israelis. While some interviewees used Doughty to propagate anti-Israeli, anti-Western views, others offered hopes for peace. Although the perspective is limited (no Israeli sources are used), Doughty compellingly relates human interest stories, including his own battle against fatigue, fear and depression, and the routines of women under curfew who try to feed their families?women who "slip down the sides of the streets when the soldiers are out of sight, stepping into the nearest shop that keeps its door open just a tiny crack." Illustrations.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Doughty, a photojournalist, and Mohammed El Aydi, his guide, cultural consultant, and friend, tender a Palestinian perspective of life in the Gaza strip. Captured at first by the stark vision of these people's lives, Doughty was further enraptured by their political plight, lifestyle, and intense family unity. He ponders the fact that photographers, himself included, seem compelled to document only the violence and poverty and miss the complexity of the society and even the day-to-day ordinariness of these Palestinians' lives. The book's focus is upon life in Camp Canada, which was first divided by General Sharon's new road system to generate a militarily accessible settlement. The families in this area were more permanently divided by the Israeli-Egyptian peace accords, which codified the division. Now families are unable to cross the division to visit and residents are held accountable to the laws, economies, and secret police of both country. Denise Perry Donavin

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Kumarian Press (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565490444
• ISBN-13: 978-1565490444
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,154,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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