THE land

"The Land" – 29,000 sq. km’s vertically stretched 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 in the West Bank, and the mere 800+ Samaritans. Believing their form of worship is the original practice of the ancient Israelites, Samaritanism includes rituals abandoned for millenia in Judaism, such as the Passover animal sacrifice on Mt Gerizim, as seen in the images below. 

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(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 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. 

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(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.