All images, text & design © Skip Schiel 1990 - 2012

Expanded Vision —Palestine & Israel, 2003-2012—Slide shows & print exhibits available

 

 

 

What & why?

Based on his most recent journey (March - May 2012), Skip Schiel is assembling a set of slide shows, print exhibits, publications, and a website that is available to the wider public. Some are ready for viewing (), others are in various stages of development ().

The story is of suffering and resilience, despair and hope, in the land of Palestine & Israel.

Quoting from the newsletter Multiversity: Myers book commentary (from the Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights):

Skip is an ethical witness photographer. [Since 2003] he lived with, observed, and learned through participation how Palestinians are resisting the injustices of occupation--one of them a 350+ mile wall of separation crazily placed with 700+ checkpoints and permanent obstacles between homes and farm land, between one family member and another.

We do not see such photographs, or this level of discussion, in the mainstream media. His work takes us into the heart of the maelstrom of Palestinian reality. For example, on May 27th [2006], while alternative media in this country were decrying internationally withheld medical supplies (boycotting the democratically elected Hamas government), Skip wrote: "The main work of the day was visiting Gaza City's main hospital, Shifa. Calling it the house of suffering would not be an exaggeration. Expertly toured by Mohanad Al-Helo, a medical doctor working for an advanced degree in community health, we visited sick and dying people, suffering not only from the usual pains and threats of life but the siege, the occupation, the problems induced by the current political conditions, especially the US-led funding slashes. Causes of the injuries include the factional violence that cuts down innocent children, hits by the Israeli army, and even family violence generated by the anxieties of the siege. Most revealing, most difficult to observe were the children. Some on IV tubes, some with advanced cancer, some with bodies distorted by congenital disease, and the babies in incubators."

The photos show the human face of anguish as parents stand by a dying child who could have been saved had not the medicine supply been cut off by our government. No cancer drugs, either, only palliatives; weekly dialysis treatments cut from three to two.

(Thanks to Louise Dunlap and Loretta Williams)

To read the entire article

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MOST RECENT SLIDE SHOWS
The New Facts on the Ground
A 20 minute basic introduction to realities in Palestine and Israel.

Descendants of Abraham, Sarah & Hagar

Using photographs from 2012, this new 25 minute unnarrated show introduces the main themes of religion, land, people, occupation, resistance, and a vision of multiple peoples sharing one land.

Eyewitness Gaza


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This new show (2012) concentrates on his personal experiences and its political context 2 years after the devastating Israeli attacks of Operation Cast Lead. Youth, their conditions and struggles, child to young adult, is the main theme. The Arab Spring, a series of uprisings in the Middle East, is the larger context. He explores the lives of people still living in tents and in recently constructed rudimentary dwellings. They continue to suffer the ongoing Israeli siege and internal political violence, while being ignored by most of the international community. The American Friends Service Committee is a major segment, showing one way hope and resiliency are fostered.

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Tracing the Jordan River


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A slide show about exploring from one of the headwaters of the Jordan, the Banias River flowing from Mt Hermon in the Galilee, to where the much-abused river disappears before Jericho. With an examination of the Sea of Galilee, especially the region of the major share of Christ's ministry, and the kibbutzim, Israeli settlements intended to reclaim land and define the contours of the future Israeli nation.

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The Hydropolitics of Israel & Palestine (revised in 2012)


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Israel-Palestine has scant water resources, but now with the current strife water is a dramatic mirror of power relationships. Thru an examination of water in various settings--small Palestinian villages & the Gaza strip--along with large cities shared by Israeli Jews & Arabs--Haifa & Jerusalem--Schiel portrays a very difficult to visualize topic.

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Bethlehem the Holy


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Contrary to tradition, Christian—and Muslim—Bethlehem is rapidly becoming Imprisoned Bethlehem, surrounded on all sides by an 8-meter (25 foot) high concrete wall, with checkpoint access restricted. Thus, Christians within Palestine (shrinking from some 10% 40 years ago to 2%) can rarely leave or enter Bethlehem. Israeli settlements confiscate Palestinian lands. And pilgrims and tourists from elsewhere in the world will find their access curtailed. Tourism, the lifeblood of the economy, is presently moribund. Israelis control the tourism and exploit it for their own benefit.

Schiel explored this situation in November 2008, initially with a delegation he helped organize fostering a people to people relationship between Bethlehem and Cambridge Massachusetts, his home, and then on a solo walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem at Christmas to explore the various shepherds' fields where angels purportedly proclaimed the good news of Christ's birth.

This slide show depicts the new reality, 2000 years after Christ's birth. Where is the outcry from the international community, especially Christians?

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The Matrix of Control in the Occupied West Bank & How to End It (AKA Israel, the Occupied Territories, & Nonviolent Resistance)

A look at the Occupied Territories thru the lens of what Jeff Halper has termed the Matrix of Control. Consider a prison, he writes, the prisoners control some 85% of the territory, but are they free? Walls, fences, bypass roads, roadblocks, checkpoints, soldiers, settlements, and permit systems define the occupation.

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Gaza Steadfast


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Hope or hopelessness, trapped or free, emigrating or remaining in Gaza, ignored or noticed by the world, Israel and militant political elements in Gaza held accountable for possible war crimes or will the lawlessnes continue?—these questions constitute the main themes of my new photographic presentation about Gaza. Based on my work photographing and teaching photography thru the AFSC for one month in Gaza during the summer of 2009, my 4th trip to that sorely afflicted region, I portray how conditions have deteriorated. Hope for many has disappeared. People, especially those young or moderate, have no voice and often attempt to leave, only a few successfully. While others remain—steadfast, sumud, the Arabic word.

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Armed Only with Justice


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Aided by Israeli Jews & internationals, Palestinians struggle with non-violent means to bring justice to their land.

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Occupation thru a Velvet Glove

Haifa—A little known story is that of the Arabs in Israel. Second class citizens, yet with rights surpassing those of their sisters & brothers in the West Bank & Gaza, an overwhelming force besieges them.

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The Holy Land


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A region holy to Islam, Judaism & Christianity, particular sites often fought over viciously, pilgrims continue to brave the dangers & uncertainties of contemporary Israeli-Palestinian life to express reverence & pleas at sites known for millennia for their supernatural powers.

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PRINT EXHIBITIONS

Gaza is Home to One & One-half Million Human Beings: How Do They Live?


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Color photos from his journey in August 2009, and earlier visits, featuring ordinary life lived under extraordinary conditions, with some relevant history.

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Female in Palestine

Drawn from 8 years of photography, this series explores living female in a zone of conflict, the occupied territories of Palestine. How to live as ordinary human beings? "All we want is to be ordinary." (Mahmoud Darwish)

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The Living Waters of Israel & Palestine


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A print version of the slide show, The Hydropolitics of Israel & Palestine, listed above.

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Ordinary People


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Street portraits of Palestinians & Israeli Jewish people in Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Haifa, & Jerusalem.

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The Matrix of Control

A print version of the slide show listed above.

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SLIDE SHOWS & PRINT EXHIBITS FROM EARLIER TRIPS, 2003-2008

In the Steps of the Magi

A slide show about a pilgrimage across the Judean desert from Jericho to Bethlehem by foot during the Christian Holy Week in 2004, & then a reality tour to examine facts on the ground of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, as well as attempts to foster peace & justice

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Occupation: Ordinary Life


A slide presentation about one person's experience of the reality of occupation in Palestine. The threat of suicide bombings, the Separation Wall, checkpoints, road barriers and other elements of the Matrix of Control are only one part--a major part--of Palestinian & Israeli reality. Not to be overlooked is the splendid work done by the Friends School in Ramallah, & the startling vision of Jean Zaru leading the resurrection of the Friends Meeting House also in Ramallah. In addition, this land is known as the Holy Land & the Promised Land. What's so holy, what's so promised? Come see, listen & converse.

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Gaza Scorched & Squeezed


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By showing people in the Gaza City central hospital, Shifa, & by touching on the water situation, Schiel demonstrates some of the effects of the international aid boycotts that followed the Hamas election victory in early 2006.

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Quakers in Palestine & Israel (Or John Woolman in the Land of Troubles)

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What do Quakers, the Religious Society of Friends, have to do with Israel-Palestine? By following some of the activities in the Ramallah Friends School & the American Friends Service Committee's work in Gaza & the West Bank (& with references to its efforts in Israel), Schiel shows how this numerically small but often effective group has made a difference in this land of troubles.

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Start Young: Youth & Youth Activism in Israel & Palestine


Slides & narration asking, What does being a youth in Israel & Palestine mean during this period of occupation & severe threat? After outlining conditions for youth—very young to young adult—we look at a variety of organizations in Israel & Palestine that are either primarily by & for youth or incorporate youth directly in their programming. We mention the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, Rabbis for Human Rights, Baladna, Holy Land Trust, Ecumenical Accompaniers for Peace in Palestine & Israel, Families Forum-Bereaved Israeli & Palestinian Families, & the American Friends Service Committee. In the struggle lies the hope.

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Facts on the Ground


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Slide show images from his journey in November 2003 with a delegation from the Fellowship of Reconciliation; topics include the Separation Barrier or Apartheid Wall, area closures, road blocks, curfews, & check points, the settlement movement, olive tree farmers. the role of fear & terror, & stories of nonviolent transformation—The Possibilitarians

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A Letter to New England Quakers from a Friend at the Ramallah Friends School


A slide show in the form of a letter, concentrating on the extraordinary 100+ year old Quaker school in the West Bank city of Ramallah, while providing relevant historical & political context for the school's many challenges.

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Paired Photographs from the Levant


A print exhibit from a journey in 2003 with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, pairings of photos & words depict some of the realities faced by Palestinians & Israeli Jews.

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