“They surrounded us with a wall on all sides, it’s like living in a tomb.”
It’s a powerful image of a harsh life lived by Christian Arabs in Bethlehem, found in this audio slideshow by Martha Rial in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
We only ever hear about loss from that part of the world. Linger too long and hope becomes a figment of the imagination. Not much of a figment for the people featured here:
‘Tens of thousands of Arab Christians began leaving their homes in Palestine in 1948 when Israel became a state. The outflow of Christians from the Holy Land has continued in response to decades of violence and economic disruption in the area.
The result is that in Biblically significant towns, such as Bethlehem, the Christian community is battle-scarred, economically bereft — and dwindling.’
It’s interesting to think about how different this story would have been if it had only featured the voice of a international journalist. Even though it’s a good few years old its power is retained because the audio slideshow is so deeply personal to the woman telling her story.
For me that’s where NGO’s and journalists often fail when working in the developing world, by placing themselves at the centre of what essentially is another person’s story.
related posts
I met Claire Anastas (the lady hemmed in by the wall) when I was in Palestine last year, and wrote about her family’s situation. It is every bit as shocking as it looks in that slideshow.
for a bit more about Christian Arabs across the region, check out this Ed Kashi/Don Belt Nat Geo piece that ran earlier this year
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/arab-christians/belt-text
This is a great example of the power of simple and honest story telling. The photographs and the audio are not technically brilliant, but they combine well – resulting in a shocking and thought provoking presentation.
Spot on Phil. Just goes to show you can either hire a stellar photographer or else just tell it how it is.
Imagine the results if all those very talented photographers and journalists took a note out of Martha Rial’s book and combined ‘telling it how it is’ with stellar talent!
Shouldn’t be that difficult, should it?