HIDDEN SPARKS PHOTOGRAPHY
  • ABOUT
    • the Photographer
    • Youth Photography workshops
    • why Hidden Sparks?
    • thank You
  • Perspectives
    • south Tel Aviv/Jaffa
    • Assignment: Checkpoint Mornings
    • Jerusalem
    • Palestinian side
    • The Land
  • faces
  • places
  • Connect

 THE land

"The Land" – a vertically stretched 29,000 sq. km’s set between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River - is vital, sacred, and beloved to her Jewish, Muslim, Christian and myriad peoples, such as the Bedouin Arabs, Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, and the mere 800+ Samaritans. Believing that their form of worship is the true religion of the ancient Israelites, Samaritanism includes rituals abandoned for millenia in Judaism, such as the Passover animal sacrifice on Mt Gerizim, shown in the images below. 
scroll down for black&white image
(Below) Living mostly in Israel’s Negev region, many Bedouin people cling to remnants of their once nomadic culture, against mounting urban pressure and modernity, particularly in the areas of education and women’s rights. Their Israeli and ethnic identities clash over longstanding land claims and socio-economic issues. About half now live in government developed urban townships and half remain in smaller villages. 
scroll down for color images​
(Below) About 430,000 diverse Jewish Israeli settlers live in mostly well-established settlements as well as smaller outposts in the West Bank/Palestine, contrary to Palestinian national aspirations for an independent state. The collection below includes images referencing lives lost to the conflict. Violence by radical settler and Palestinian extremists persists, while grassroots groups such as Roots/Shorashim/Judor work for trust and partnership upon which future Land sharing agreements can be built. 
 © 2020 Bruce Shaffer. All Rights Reserved.
  • ABOUT
    • the Photographer
    • Youth Photography workshops
    • why Hidden Sparks?
    • thank You
  • Perspectives
    • south Tel Aviv/Jaffa
    • Assignment: Checkpoint Mornings
    • Jerusalem
    • Palestinian side
    • The Land
  • faces
  • places
  • Connect