The Israeli occupation has designed a system of control in the West Bank and created two parallel realities where Israelis are free to move while Palestinians, living in the same geographical area, are subjugated to restrictions and constant controls.These checkpoints are not serving as a border control between two sovereign countries, but act as a means of control over the Palestinian population.
Every morning, before dawn, thousands of Palestinian laborers gather at Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank on their way to their workplaces in Israeli and Palestinian cities beyond the Green Line.
There are about 70,000 West Bank Palestinians with Israeli work permits and thousands more are crossing and working without permits.
Activestills started this project in 2016, in order to tell the story of the Palestinian laborers, gathering documentation at Bethlehem (Checkpoint 300), Qalqilya (Eyal Checkpoint), Tulkarem (At-Taybeh Checkpoint), Tarkumia checkpoint (Hebron area), Qalandia checkpoint (Ramallah area).
Project Team: Activestills Collective,
production Ahmad Al-Bazz, photography and video Anne Paq, photography and video Haidi Motola, photography and video Sima Dardari, translation