During the summer of 2011, armed with a camera and a map, award-winning Canadian filmmaker and photographer Afzal Huda set out to chronicle the Separation Wall in Palestine. His aim was to magnify the ugly face of the Wall and depict the contradictions and hardships endured by human beings living under a military occupation. He was intent on showing the world what it was like to live in an open air prison and how Palestinians have developed ways to cope with the Wall's existence.
Afzal spent three weeks doing just that: visiting all the Palestinian areas along the Wall and interviewing people young and old from all walks of life. But instead of the overwhelming reality of misery and suffering he had witnessed with his own eyes, his camera caught images of a contrasting nature: photos of people and faces of compassion, perseverance and hope rarely seen in mainstream media's usual portrayal of Palestinians.
The resulting book-conceived and beautifully designed by Waleed Abu-Ghazaleh-is a powerful photo journal that depicts the humanity of a resilient people. It is divided into four parts, each starting with a short introduction in English, Spanish, German, French, and Chinese followed by brief statistics taken from United Nation sources. It includes:
. Images of the Wall as a physical barrier: how it dissects towns and farmland
. Images of Palestinians living under its shadow: checkpoints, gates and the resultant poverty
. Images of solidarity: support from international artists and visitors as well as local inhabitants
. Images of perseverance and hope
