Maysun Photography

L'Espresso Magazine

2011-11-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

Publication in L'Espresso Magazine.

'Freedom Shadows' in OjodePez Magazine. October Issue.

2011-10-08T04:04:00.000-07:00

Here it is the October issue of 'OjodePez Magazine'. You will find part of my reportage "Freedom Shadows" (2011) on it. I hope you like!

Ya está aquí el número de Octubre de 'OjodePez Magazine'. Encontraréis parte de mi reportaje "Freedom Shadows" (2011) en él. ¡Espero que os guste!

"Plastic Life" New Reportage in FEATURES

2011-07-20T05:39:00.000-07:00

"Plastic Life" New Reportage in FEATURES

THE STRANGER. New Essay Coming Soon!

2011-07-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

2011-06-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

Finalist of the "4th PHE OjodePez Award for Human Values 2011" For my reportage "Freedom Shadows" about Burmese Women Political Prisones. // Finalista del "4th PHE OjodePez Award for Human Values 2011" Por mi reportaje de "Freedom Shadows" sobre Mujeres Birmanas Presas Políticas.

Two new features coming soon!

2011-05-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Two new features coming soon on www.maysun.eu! Freedom Shadows (Portraits of Burseme Women Political Prisoners telling about their story in jail) and Plastic life (Life of illegal burmese workers in a rubbish dump in the Thai-Burma border)

Freedom Shadows.

Plastic Life.

Maysun's work in Agency LUZphoto

2011-05-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

My work is distributed by the new Agency LUZphoto

SHEDDING SKIN II

2011-04-25T04:35:00.000-07:00

New pictures in the Essay SHEDDING SKIN II

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT MULTIMEDIA?

2011-04-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

What is the most important thing about multimedia...

SHEDDING SKIN I. & II.

2011-04-02T04:17:00.000-07:00

New Essay online! Check it out on www.maysun.eu

CHECK OUT MY NEW WEBSITE!

2011-02-11T15:15:00.001-08:00

Check Out My New Website!

www.maysun.eu

IV. IRAQI DIASPORA. IN NO MAN'S LAND. AL TANF DETENTION CAMP. (TEITR)

2010-07-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

IV. IRAQI DIASPORA. IN NO MAN'S LAND. AL TANF DETENTION CAMP.
TO EXIST IS TO RESIST PROJECT)

(English version)

This is the story of an endless struggle of a people in the Diaspora, refugee forever. This is doomed to repeat history of a people driven from their land, an occupied land, which lies in the memory of our parents and grandparents, our children and grandchildren.

About 35,000 Palestinian refugees were living in Iraq for decades, mostly following the creation of Israel in 1948 and then forced to exodus, the Nakba, "The Catastrophe", which was applied to the Palestinian people by Zionists. From the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq occurred in 2003, the Palestinian community in Iraq has faced indiscriminate harassment, threats of deportation, abuse by the media, arbitrary arrests, torture and killings by bloodthirsty occupant or insurgent militias and Iraqi forces collaborators, who accuse them of having received preferential treatment by the deposed Iraqi government or of being in favour of the resistance and against the occupation. Palestinian neighbourhoods such as al-Hurriya and al-Baladiyat in Baghdad have been bombarded and attacked from the start of the US Occupation.

About 19,000 Palestinians have left Iraq since 2003 and remain in the country only about 15,000, which bear continuous threats hampering their daily life. Many Palestinians expelled from their homes sought refuge at first in tents in Haifa stadium in Baghdad. Others were killed, imprisoned or were forced to leave Iraq.

From those Palestinians who were forced inevitably to a second Diaspora of Iraq to flee their homes, belongings and family members who did not have sufficient means to leave, more than 2,700 are left in no man's land on the desert border between Syria and Iraq , in camps in Al-Hol, Al-Tanf, Al-Ruweished and Al-Waleed. Going back to their Iraqi homes is impossible. Their right of return to Palestine impracticable. The entry to Syria or another Arab country is not near a viable possibility. What to do then, when reality leaves you in limbo in a no man's land desert under subhuman conditions? The UN built tented camps temporarily, but even it seemed that was to last only a few weeks, has lasted more than three years of hell. Three long years of floods, sandstorms and snow, lack of drinking water and food, extremely high day temperatures of up to 56 º C, freezing nights over 12ºC below zero, snakes and scorpions in the tents, fires, like the occurred in April 2007 in Al Tanf Camp, where 28 people were injured by burns of various kinds and 7 shops destroyed in minutes. Or that happened in January of 2009 in the same camp that killed a pregnant woman and nothing could be done to save her. Three long years waiting to be relocated for a chance to live normally, to have a better future.

This report is based on Al Tanf Refugee Camp, although it could bear the name of "detention camp" because they can not get out of it by law. They were denied entering to Syria but they can not return to Baghdad. The landscape is bleak, it is virtually identical to that of the Nakba in 1948. This is a field located in no man's land at the border between Syria and Iraq and comprises a handful of skeletal tents provided by UNRWA and placed just 3 meters from the Baghdad-Damascus highway that separates the two boundaries and assiduously busy for trailers, which, incidentally, killed two children from the camp, which houses more than 900 people, including women, men, elderly, children. More than 40% are children and youth. All of them, but especially children, have visible signs of deep trauma because of the atrocities they have witnessed.

As in all stories, there are people, men, women, children, elderly, families with names that, too often fall into oblivion and silence. One of those men, whose name is Hussein Abu Nawfak Mohammad Sadek, a Palestinian refugee in Iraq, he cried for his two sons, Mohammad and Ahmad, abducted and brutally murdered in front of his loved ones, who tried to flee to Syria with his family after the fall of Baghdad and ended up in no man's land in the area of Al Tanf.

This is also the story of Abu Gassan, a Palestinian refugee who was tortured in Iraq and also suffered the death of his son. Abu Gassan describes the killing of their neighbours with sadness in his eyes, tells the torture of a 7 year old girl who could not be recognized by hes mother when they found the corpse. He tells how kidnapped a child from 2 years, filled with rice, put him in the oven and returned him, cooked, to his parents. He tells many things, too many and too horrible to accept.

Or that's the one of Bassim Mohammad Abu Salam, a Palestinian, formerly Professor of Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Baghdad until his brother was killed and his family threatened. His father died of grief for what happened. They fled to Damascus but had financial problems and sent them to Al Tanf. Despite the harsh life in the camp and the limited resources at its disposal, Bassim has built his own garden in the desert. He is doing a study on how certain plants grow in a desertical environment due to diseases, insects, etc.. Day to day records every detail: temperature and climate for the study of these conditions, etc. But while the intention and the wisdom of Bassim is long, the weather conditions are tough. Months of July and August are difficult for gardening. There is little water, the cultivation is weak, and only a few vegetables grow. He brought some seeds of Damascus. His garden is composed of basic vegetables and especially necessary for survival due to the difficult access to food in the camp: beans, corn, which draw the flour used for cooking, spinach, potatoes and more. They also have rabbits and birds, all found in the desert.

But, without any doubt, one of the people that touched me the most was Hazana, a 95-year-old Palestinian woman, which was the oldest person in Al Tanf. Small woman, with vivid and bright eyes, contrasting with a wrinkled face by long and pain. Strong hands worked in the field. Survivor of two diasporas, the Nakba, and now Iraq. During the first one was forced to flee her home in Haifa, Palestine in 1948. She just has contact with two of her 11 children. Another one has been killed and she didn't know anything about the rest. Her daughter Zainab, a strong woman dressed in black, says with great sadness that Hazana is too old and she will never leave here, that the only place to go is heaven. Hazana believes that human life shouldn't be as they live by now. She's sick. She'd like to go to another country but is aware that maybe there is no hope for her. Hazana remembers old Palestine, when Zionist occupation had not begun. Tells, sobbing, how happy and peaceful was living there, with its orchards and flocks, remembers the school and praying in the mosque.

It's hard to see so much pain, so many dreams truncated, nevertheless, but how reassuring to see they have inner strength, hope, that they keep intact, the ability to laugh and support each other, forming a community which ties will never break.

From 2008 several groups of refugees have been resettled in countries such as Chile, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Britain. Finally they had the opportunity to start a new life. But all is not rosy. Families have been separated, sending members of the same families to different destinations. In addition to being relocated and therefore obtain passports from their host countries they have lose their right of return to Palestine in case the occupation ends and Palestine becomes a country again. If this were not enough, the last 300 people living in Al Tanf were relocated to Al-Hol, another nearby refugee camp, joining more than 600 people who lived there before in the same inhuman conditions in Al Tanaf. Today the situation remains unresolved.

But, after all, after 100 years of Zionist plan, after all that suffering, perhaps my Palestinian brothers and sisters are right and we have no choice but to continue having hope because, as you can hear on the street, Palestine is nowhere but "fi elb" in the heart.

MAYSUN - FINE ART

2010-06-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

Finally some of my paintings. New ones coming soon. Hope you enjoy them // Finalmente algunos de mis cuadros. Próximamente más. Espero que los disfrutéis.

MAYSUN - FINE ART

MAYSUN EN EL PROGRAMA DE RADIO "QUÉDATE CONMIGO"

2010-05-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Entrevista a Maysun y al también fotógrafo Guillem Valle para el programa Quédate conmigo de la Oficina de Responsabilidad Social de la Universidad Europea de Madrid.

ARTE+DENUNCIA+SOCIAL. Ciclo de actividades de la Universidad Europea de Madrid. Charla el día 19 de Mayo.

2010-05-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

19 mayo: Encuentro con la fotoperiodista Maysun

Maysun dará a conocer su trabajo y su perspectiva sobre la identidad del pueblo palestino en la diáspora. Con sus imágenes, Maysun capta lo que no vemos a primera vista. La luz, las miradas, detalles robados…este es el material básico para denunciar la injusticia y reconstruir la identidad.

Redacción Uemcom (Edificio B, planta 3) de 11:00h a 12:30h

IV. AL TANAF DETENTION CAMP (TEITR) - NEW FEATURE. COMING SOON

2010-02-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

ESSAY UPDATED

2010-02-16T05:28:00.000-08:00

Essay section is updated with two works about Bästad's Lighdrops and Felling Tennis.

MAYSUN IN REAR VIEW MIRROR

2009-10-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Check my profile in PHOTOGRAPHERS section or REAR VIEW MIRROR MAGAZINE.

Rear View Mirror.

LE COOL Cover. By Maysun.

2009-10-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

ENTREVISTA CON LA DISEÑADORA DE LA PORTADA: MAYSUN

Le Cool Magazine

¿Quién eres y a qué te dedicas?

Soy fotoperiodista y pintora. La inquietud por aprender sumada a mi origen palestino, mi amor por viajar y el deseo de ayudar a otras personas hizo que me dedicase a esta profesión. Desde 2005 realizo un trabajo a largo plazo sobre la Identidad Palestina en el Mundo llamado “To Exist is to Resist” como una forma de entender mi propia identidad individual y el sentimiento identitario colectivo del pueblo Palestino a pesar de su diversidad por culpa de la Diaspora. Pero no sólo limito mi trabajo a esta causa. Cualquier forma de injusticia social llama mi atención y despierta mi necesidad de documentar lo que ocurre alrededor. A pesar de la crisis que está viviendo nuestro sector creo que continua siendo necesaria nuestra labor. El principal problema es la supremacía del EGO personal del artista y el negocio lucrativo que conlleva por encima de la historia que está contando.

¿Cuál es la idea de tus portadas?

La de esta semana la realicé durante la Semana Santa de 2008. Se trata de la Cofradía del Perpetuo Silencio. Forma parte de un reportaje sobre la Semana Santa en España. Personalmente soy Atea y mi reportaje, más que un homenaje a las costumbres de este país es justamente lo contrario, una crítica personal hacia la Iglesia Católica y la perpetuación de estos actos medievales y retrógrados impuestos a la ciudadanía, ya que se realizan en lugares públicos, se basan en el fomento a la culpabilidad, el arrepentimiento, el castigo moral y físico y la negación de lo racional por encima de lo espiritual en un supuesto país laico y aconfesional, además de resultar un gasto público innecesario. Me parece cuanto menos sorprendente que una ciudad como Barcelona, cuna del Anarquismo y el Comunismo libertario durante la Guerra Civil haya vuelto a rendir pleitesía a lo que una vez nego firmemente en pos de la razón. Para dar forma a dicha crítica use un lenguaje visual basado en una estética oscura, decadente y un tanto siniestra.

Si pudieras trasladarte al instante a cualquier lugar, ¿dónde irías y por qué?

No es tanto a donde, sino cómo. Me encantaría ser invisible, fotografiar sin ser vista, percibida, captando la esencia de las personas sin que varíen su comportamiento debido a tu presencia. Algo muy , pero que muy difícil en realidad… Y por soñar, soñaría con ver los Jardines Colgantes de Babilonia, la época de Ramses II o la Italia de Leonardo. Pero espero ver grandes cosas de mi tiempo también, como el fin de la Ocupación.

KOSOVA INDEPENDENCE: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM (2008)

2008-03-14T14:58:00.000-07:00

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KOSOVA INDEPENDENCE: The Price of Freedom (2008)

Reportage that shows the recent independence of Kosoa (2008), darken by the bitter memory of Racak’s masacre (1999) happened almost ten years ago.

After the death of of Slobodan Milosevich two years ago, which once was the "Great Serbia", has had converted in memories full of fight, pain, blood and loss. Kosova, the 6th province of the old Yugoslavia, has chased the way to independence, as its nexts Eslovenia, Croacia, Macedonia, Bosnia y Montenegro. But the way has been long, hard and full of pain. Pain as hard as the population of Racak lived. Racak, the town where the a terrible massacre happened on January 15th in 1999, where 42 civilians were assassinated in cold blood. leaving as the only survivor of that day to Ramma Shabani , who believe that his duty is to tell about what happened to intend that no one could say that nothing happened there.

Rama, who was injured on the head and the hip, suffer of pain and nightmares in which he hears his executioners singing: “Who told, who lied, that Serbia is small?”

William Walker, the former head of the Kosova Verification Mission (KVM) for the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Kosova and Metohia, was who, during a recognition mission on the zone , alerted about the masacre and made responsible for it to the Sebian Security Forces so that provoked the NATO’s atack and the end of the war with it.

So, this reportage thresh holded back euphoria moments because of the new freedom of the country, but mixed with the bitter memory of the beloved people who perished on that long and cruel war, giving a bittersweet flavour at the end, in the middle way of the pain and the hope for a better life.

III. REFUGEE LIFE (TEITR) in FEATURES.

2008-02-24T06:25:00.000-08:00

(TO EXIST IS TO RESIST) III. REFUGEE LIFE

This report deals with the appalling social and economic conditions of the Palestinians refugees in Lebanon, most of who live in war-torn camps.

There are today about 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the majority of them live in refugee camps run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The largest is Ein El-Hilweh refugee camp in Saida (South of Lebanon) with 65,000 Palestinians. Others are Bourj Al-Barajneh, Shatila, Bourj Al-Shamali, Rashidiyeh, El-Bass, Baddawi and Nahr-el-Bared refugee camps. Palestinians were forced to flee or were expelled from their homes and lands at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and again when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967. Many of them took refuge in Lebanon, where they remain today, together with their descendants.

For the past 60 years, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon continue to live in horrific conditions inside overpopulated refugee camps. Their right to return to home continues to be completely denied by Israel, in direct violation of many international legal instruments such as the 4th Geneva Convention, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The discrimination and marginalization suffered by the these refugees contribute to high levels of unemployment (In 'Ayn al-Hilwah’ camp, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, the rate of unemployment is 80%. It mainly attributes this to laws discriminating against Palestinian refugees in their ability to seek work. They are barred from practising in over 70 professions such as law, medicine, pharmacy, and journalism due to a requirement of possessing Lebanese citizenship or to having reciprocal treatment in the country of the foreign national wishing to practice this profession.), low wages (The average individual income (44$) is a quarter of the Lebanese minimum wage) and poor working conditions (The majority of Palestinians are forced to work illegally, and in unskilled labour, mostly in manual, irregular and daily – either paid, or in petty commerce in the camps.). The resultant poverty is exacerbated by restrictions placed on their access to state education and social services.

In terms of education and healthcare, things are not better. Due to the living conditions are so poor, many young people give up school to work illegally, in order to secure income for their families. Others use drugs, crime or join politico-religious factions to earn money. In Lebanon, public hospitals are largely insufficient, and the majority of the population relies on private hospitals, which cost too much for most Palestinians. UNRWA provides medical services in 24 private general hospitals, and one maternity and child care centre. Basic services are offered only in the areas of maternity, childcare, family planning and control of infectious and non-infectious disease.

UNRWA has estimated that 60% of Palestinians in Lebanon live below the poverty line. Other studies have indicated that proportions have risen to 80%, with 56% living in extreme poverty.

Also, Palestinians refugees are restricted from rebuilding or redeveloping refugee camps due to government-imposed restrictions and repairs as well as building new structures have been forbidden in all the Southern camps since 1991. They do not have the right to own property in the country. They no longer may purchase property and those who owned property prior to 2001 would be prohibited from passing it on to their children.

The “security measures” make their lives even more difficult. Palestinians are not permitted to organize and form associations and NGOs unless through a Lebanese citizen. Where authorities discover that the associations are not Lebanese, they are forced to cease activities. Those waiting to go in and out of the camps may be subject to identity checks (to show the ID) by the Lebanese army.

With a population of 40,000, Naher Al Bared camp, situated 16 kilometres north of Tripoli was the second largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, where it was established in 1949. In May, fighting broke out and left 40 civilians, 167 Lebanese troops and 200 Fatah Islam fighters dead.

Refugees have fled to the nearby Baddawi camp, which have at most 18,000 inhabitants. By October, when it appeared safe to return, Naher Al Bared camp had lost 85 percent of its buildings and its remaining homes had been looted (in short, there was nothing to return to.) They took refuge on the UNRWA schools, which they were distributed in four parts, and in each part there were a whole family (sometimes of more than 8 members, most of them children) The health and food situation is unsustainable and the level of trauma that suffers this population, moreover the children, is very high.

Harsh discriminatory practices by the Lebanese government and the incapacity of lack of UNRWA to fulfill its mandate have driven Palestinian refugees into a situation characterized by abject poverty, isolation, and persecution. Also, much of the discriminatory treatment Palestinians face is rooted in their statelessness, which has been used by the Lebanese authorities to deny them equal rights.

This background, the idea of injustice, the discrimination and denial for so many decades affected me so deep inside, as a Palestinian but also as a human being, that I decided to develop a body of documentary work about “Palestinians in Lebanon”. This reportage has individuality by itself because of the strong subject, the importance as a separate work where Lebanon means a complex field full of hard situations and determinant and historical moments, but also as a very important part of a long term project about a concrete issue such as “Palestinian Identity” in progress since 2005. This idea is the nexus that unify every work I do about Palestinians, nor the conflict, neither the Diaspora, but everything at the same time. To be a Palestinian is more complicated that it seems, moreover to be a Palestinian refugee. The conflict, the occupation, then the Diaspora, and so many years of pain, loss and resistance change every little thing of their lives. Even the music and behaviour change. The intention of this long term project, as a general goal, and on each reportage, as individual aims, is to show, document and analyse the essence of the Palestinian Identity and see how it grows up, change and evolves depending the place and conditions of living, as a way to preserve it and also condemn the horrible and unfair situation of the Palestinian people.

THE BEST KEPT SECRET.

2007-03-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

DE DIAMANTES, DESIERTOS Y TIEMPO ó PETRA: EL SECRETO MEJOR GUARDADO.

Después de tanto tiempo, sigues mirándome altiva, grandiosa, en silencio, como si el viento abrasador desolase todo a su paso con su lengua de fuego y, a ti…tan solo te ornase con un beso en la frente, esa tallada en todos los rosas posibles, que yace impertérrita a través del tiempo, majestuosa. Tu reino pétreo fue creado para guardar el silencio de los tiempos, el aroma de los dátiles, el sonido de mil lenguas. Tú, eterna. Mi querida Petra.

Cuando era pequeña, mi abuelo solía mostrarme libros antiguos con imágenes de países lejanos llenos de historias increíbles, desiertos dorados, palacios majestuosos, ricas telas, especias y piedras preciosas. Aquellos días de relatos fantásticos, bazares repletos de frutas, aromas embriagantes y ricos manjares dignos de un sultán, dejaron en mí una huella grabada en lo más hondo, que despertó de inmediato una curiosidad voraz y una imaginación que me transportaba a los cuentos de “Las mil y una noches” donde quiera que me encontrase.

Ese afán de saber más de aquel lejano Oriente sumado a mis orígenes palestinos fue lo que me llevó directamente a las puertas de uno de los tesoros mejor guardados de la historia de la Humanidad: La legendaria Petra. (En griego “Piedra”)

Éste tesoro de la naturaleza se encuentra engastado como un diamante en el corazón de la cuenca del Wadi Arabah, sumido a su vez en la gran depresión conocida como Valle del Rift, frontera natural que corre desde el Golfo de Aqaba hasta el Mar Muerto, a 392 metros bajo el nivel del Mar Mediterráneo, y se prolonga por el río Jordán. Allí, al abrigo de las altas y serpenteantes montañas rocosas florecieron civilizaciones tales como los antiguos reinos de Edom y Moab, cuyos nombres han sido citados en la Biblia en varias ocasiones.

El primer paso que di al llegar a este maravilloso lugar hizo que mis sentidos me transportaran irremediablemente al pasado, cuando hacia el año 312 a.C la tribu nómada de los nabateos (el término 'nabateo' proviene de Nabathu, que significa “de Arabia del Sur”), cuya lengua era el arameo, poblaba éstas tierras rodeadas de desiertos de dunas ardientes y silencio insolente. Raqum (“Reqem” en semítico), como llamaban los nabateos a Petra, era por aquellos tiempos un vergel en medio del desierto que cobró gran importancia como enclave estratégico en el que confluían varias rutas caravaneras. De las Indias traían jengibre, pimientas, azúcar, algodón y perfumes. De China se importaban sedas y especias. A la hora de exportar, China estaba interesada en adquirir productos como alheña, incienso, vidrio, oro y plata. Y telas como gasas y damascos cuya técnica de tejido era desconocida en China por lo que eran muy apreciados. Los principales lugares comerciales de donde provenían estos materiales eran Damasco (como su propio nombre indica) y Gaza, el cual había desarrollado un importante emporio costero donde confluían varias rutas como la proveniente del Neyev rumbo a Rhinocolura (El Arish, Egipto). En otro de esos itinerarios se exportaban mirra, incienso y especias de todo tipo desde el valle de Hadramaut, al sur de la Península Arábiga, hacia las costas del Mediterráneo.

La importancia de Petra como punto indispensable y estratégico en las rutas caravaneras, se debía a que poseía el oro más preciado de todo Oriente: Agua. De ahí proviene el nombre del lugar: Wadi Musa (Río de Moisés). Según las Sagradas Escrituras, el patriarca Moisés hizo brotar agua milagrosamente en el desierto al golpear con su vara una peña (Éxodo, 17:1-7).

Petra contaba con numerosas reservas del líquido elemento, incluso para situaciones de serias dificultades pues se abastecían por medio de una entramada red de cisternas que mantenían el seco territorio a salvo de la sequía. Por lo cual, la parada de las caravanas para proveerse de agua y cierto reposo durante las interminables y abrasadoras travesías por el desierto era simplemente necesaria.

Así, Petra se enriqueció tanto que pasó a convertirse en un reino donde las dinastías de reyes nabateos florecieron ampliamente para más tarde expandirse como imperio bajo el mandato del rey Aretas IV (9 a C - 40 d C) Es en éste período cuando la más bella de las joyas fue tallada literalmente en piedra arenisca de un sinfín de tonos rosados como si surgiera de las entrañas de aquel oasis natural perdido en medio del inhóspito desierto.

Me hallaba así frente a uno de los secretos mejor guardados de la historia de la Humanidad. La primera parte del camino, quizá la más dura por encontrarme a la intemperie, bajo un sol abrasador que no perdona ni al más osado, decidí hacerla a lomos de un caballo blanco, con el pelaje tachonado de pequeñas y graciosas manchitas grises que le daban un aire salvaje y a su vez lo confundían con el paisaje haciéndolo invisible a una distancia considerable. Me dirigí lentamente hacia un pausado balanceo en el que, entre el silencio indescriptible, y el calor abrasador me sentí por un momento como la heroica Lady Hester Stanhope entrando triunfal con su enorme séquito, el cual encabezaba, bajo los altos arcos dorados de Palmira, arropada por el ensordecedor clamor del gentío que la adoraba ornándola con guirnaldas de flores y agasajándola con danzas ancestrales como si de la misma Zenobia se tratase.

A finales de la década de los 80 Petra llegó a Hollywood de la mano de Harrison Ford y Steven Spielberg con “Indiana Jones y la Última Cruzada”(1989) en donde el protagonista se adentraba en busca del Cáliz Sagrado en lo más profundo de ésta roca que a mis pies, parecía tener vida y respirar. Mis pasos hacia aquí, no se han dibujado en la piedra, a fuego en busca de tesoros ocultos ni piedras preciosas. Han sido las arenas doradas del Sáhara las que desde la lejanía silente tiraron de mi hasta el comienzo de éste angosto desfiladero multicolor que se yergue ante mí como si, a su vez, quisiera rasgar el cielo con sus montañosas cumbres afiladas y clavar en la tierra sus raíces secas y antiguas que tanto podrían decirnos y callan como quien guarda el mejor secreto que haya existido jamás.

Aquel pasillo angosto y aparentemente inescrutable, posee el nombre de desfiladero del Siq y es, desde la antigüedad, la única entrada y la única salida a la ciudad pétrea, lo que significaba que éste maravilloso oasis que cautiva por su belleza, no era sino un verdadero fortín flanqueado por montañas inexpugnables que protegían con sus altas murallas no sólo del viento y las arenas ardientes del desierto sino de otras tribus que quisieran cometer alguna emboscada, acto bastante habitual alimentado por las rivalidades entre tribus beduinas y por la dura vida del desierto y la falta de agua y víveres.

Durante un segundo dudé del modo en el que atravesar aquella garganta que parecía devorar a todo aquel que osaba adentrarse en ella. El kilómetro aproximado de longitud que posee éste sendero invitaba al paseo reposado, a pie, a fin de explorar cada centímetro de piedra rosada que me rodeaba y sentir en mi piel y en mi mente cada paso de cada beduino, el eco de los cascos de los caballos tirando de los carruajes, el olor de las higueras que crecen en la roca, la llegada al vergel después de largas horas de travesía agotadoras. A cada paso, descubría un detalle. Hornacinas dedicadas al dios Dushara, un desfile procesional de hombres y animales (casi borrado por el tiempo y la barbarie), un altar de sacrificios.

Tras caminar, observar, sentir, recordar historias, tratar de entender cómo, cuando y quién anduvo por éstas mismas piedras que pisaba lentamente, simplemente el tiempo se detuvo, tan sólo un instante, suficientemente largo como para contener la respiración y tratar de enfocar la mirada a través de la cegadora luz del sol que me dejaba entrever algo que soñé desde los cuentos que mi abuelo me contaba… No buscaba tesoros, pero me encontré con el más bello que jamás había visto. Al menos el nombre de éste maravilloso templo funerario tallado en piedra arenisca de suaves tonos rosados así lo atestigua: “El Tesoro”. Las influencias egipcias, clasicistas y orientales de su arquitectura, se diluían en un maravilloso juego de vetas multicolores salpicadas al azar.

Y al fin, Petra. Tras acostumbrar mis ojos a la luz al principio cegadora del sol, alcé la mirada para hallar una urbe grandiosa, otrora bulliciosa y atestada de gente, carros, animales, cuyas calles vivas estaban rodeadas por una necrópolis monumental en la que sus habitantes rendían homenaje en cada construcción.

Hallé un teatro greco-romano, que contaba con un aforo para aproximadamente 7000 personas. Cerré los ojos e intenté encontrar un atisbo del bullicio enloquecido de la gente en el aire. O tal vez del momento en el que un terremoto causó estragos en su estructura haciendo que los habitantes de la ciudad tuvieran que reaprovecharlo para otros usos. El silencio del desierto que me trajo hasta aquí, se fue convirtiendo paulatinamente en un murmullo creciente e interno que me recorría el cuerpo y que reflejaba el entusiasmo por la maravillosa muestra de arte e historia que a cada paso me iba encontrando en mi camino.

El Palacio Real, los baños nabateos, iglesias bizantinas, el Templo de los leones alados, dedicado a la diosa de la fertilidad, Atargatis, compañera de Dushara y por supuesto, el bello Templo de la Hija del Faraón, que se trata de un edificio de dimensiones considerables, utilizado como lugar de culto al dios Dushara, y que se caracteriza por ser el único edificio de construcción nabatea no excavado en la roca.

Petra, mi querida Petra, mi amado escondrijo, lugar de altas montañas que proclaman su soberanía y hacen frente al viento del desierto. Lugar de paso, en el que detener un instante el camino, camino sediento y seco que huele a incienso y sabe a dátiles y leche de camella. Lugar en el que no hay tiempo, aquí, nunca lo ha habido. Sólo nosotros cambiamos, nuestra ropa, nuestras vidas, nuestros sueños, pero ella, está quieta, silente, posada en la roca como una pluma, cuajada de detalles, mínimos, grandiosos, heroica como un Partenón surgido del fondo de la tierra. Petra es la prueba viviente de que, de la roca, se puede sacar vida.

Published in SPEND IN MAGAZINE January, 2007.

See the publication online.

Download the published version. (pdf. Spanish)

II. Palestine. The Land of Discord. (TEITR)

2007-01-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

II. PALESTINE. THE LAND OF DISCORD.
(TO EXIST IS TO RESIST PROJECT)

(Spanish Version)

“TO EXIST IS TO RESIST” (“Existir es resistir”). Así versa el lema más citado de Palestina. Un lema que está en boca del hombre, de la mujer, del religioso y el pagano y del anciano, y del niño que apenas alcanza los 7 años y ya debate sobre política como si tuviera 40.

El conflicto Palestino-Israelí, no es un conflicto cualquiera. No es una guerra más. Se trata de un conflicto sin precedentes, que desgraciadamente está durando demasiado.

La imagen exterior del problema Palestino-Israelí consiste en la idea de que su base radica en motivos religiosos. Pero lo cierto es que musulmanes, judíos y cristianos han convivido y conviven juntos desde hace milenios.

Se trata de un conflicto de intereses, no solo políticos, sino económicos, sociológicos y de estrategia militar a nivel mundial, en el que están implicadas grandes potencias como Estados Unidos y los países más poderosos de Europa.

Pero el debate sobre las razones verídicas e incluso de la propia realidad del conflicto es muy extenso. La información que nos llega al respecto está manipulada y no siempre se puede saber cual es el fondo real de todo esto.

Por ello y partir de la investigación y documentación política, histórica y sociológica del territorio Palestino y sus habitantes estoy realizando un proyecto fotoperiodístico sobre la identidad palestina y el activismo político no violento, ambos dentro y fuera de Palestina. Existen a día de hoy más de 4 millones de refugiados palestinos fuera de los Territorios Ocupados. Hasta el momento he recavado información documental en Palestina, Jordania, Egipto, Líbano y España.

La finalidad de dicha investigación es la de mostrar la realidad tal cual, sin partidismos ni intereses de ningún tipo. Simplemente desnudar la verdad de la forma más fehaciente posible. Además, trataré de realizar un análisis sociocultural de la identidad palestina y todo lo que ello engloba.

Esta es una pequeña muestra del resultado de dicha investigación entre 2006 y 2007.