The tenacity of hope
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Searching for a photo book to recommend this year, I heard of a collection of portraits of Israelis and Palestinians. My first thought was, 鈥淭hat鈥檒l be depressing.鈥� Then I opened the book.
Testimony, by photographer Gillian Laub, is a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit. The Middle East can fatigue even the most optimistic individuals, yet in 鈥�Testimony鈥� Laub introduces us to a group of people who live in the midst of the madness but still find reason to hope.
Laub, a secular American Jew hoping to understand the insanity of life in a war zone, presents nuanced, heartbreaking, and triumphant portraits of the individuals behind the headlines 鈥� Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, and Palestinians 鈥� who represent the huge majority who just want to live in peace.
Some of the pictures are hard to see. War isn鈥檛 pretty. Many of the injuries are on the outside 鈥� other wounds lie within. Posed portraits, one to a spread, are elegantly laid out with the subject鈥檚 words on the left-facing page. Each subject wrote a statement, a type of last will and testament. Their words are sobering, sometimes surprising. It is this pairing of the pictures and words that is so successful.
As you look at and listen to these subjects, you鈥檒l start to wonder what you would do in their place. Would you come down on the side of peace after watching a loved one die? Could you still forgive after personally being maimed or injured by the 鈥渙ther side鈥�? These people live side by side in a space-challenged region awash in politics, a place where a visit to the local mall could be interrupted by a suicide bomb attack; a drive home from a wedding shattered by sniper鈥檚 bullets.
Look into the eyes of Masadi, a Palestinian mother of six who works for a Jewish family. She stands in a doorway with a loving look on her face 鈥� her daughter wears defiance all over her body. Masadi says: 鈥淸T]o hate is easy. To love is hard. You have to be strong to love.鈥�
I think my favorite photo 鈥� although I have many 鈥� is of a Russian 茅migr茅, Ayal, who lost his hearing and sight while riding a bus a suicide bomber attacked. He is lying in a hospital bed on his birthday a few months after the incident, his parents 鈥� out of view 鈥� holding his hands. He smiles toward the camera he can鈥檛 see. I am humbled by his strength and spirit. We get to read what he says two years later. He is living on his own and can hear with the help of a device. He is optimistic that, with technology, he will see again someday. 鈥淸T]hey expect that I have some big political agenda, and I don鈥檛. It鈥檚 like the reporters who used to bombard me in the hospital 鈥� they just wanted me to say that I hated the Arabs. It鈥檚 like they were disappointed when I told them I didn鈥檛 have feelings of revenge or resentment鈥�. I just want to live a normal peaceful life.鈥�
Maytal, an Israeli amputee, was maimed in a terrorist attack, and yet has this to say: 鈥淲e are angels with one wing, and we can only fly if we learn to embrace each other.鈥�
