Side by Side

Country:  Israel and Palestine

Participants:  Israeli and Palestinian youth

This picture was taken in Al Wade street in the old city of Jerusalem , where we can see Muslims and Jewish in the same street
– though not walking together.

Book cover of Side by Side photo booklet, published by PhotoVoice, 2007
© Areej Mustafa Abu Sarah / Side-by-Side / Parents’ Circle / PhotoVoice

Side by Side was an eight-month photographic dialogue project that brought together six Palestinian and six Israeli teenagers from across Israel and the West Bank in 2007. All the young people were members of the grassroots Palestinian-Israeli organization, the Families Forum, a network of bereaved families dedicated to non-violence and dialogue. Consisting of several hundred families, half Palestinian and half Israeli, The Families Forum operates under the principle that a process of reconciliation is a prerequisite for achieving a sustained peace in the region. 

Families Forum members conduct dialogue sessions, give lectures, and engage in projects that support dialogue and reconciliation through activities such as youth summer camps, a radio show, Facebook groups and previously a telephone line that enabled Israelis and Palestinians to talk for free and make connections. Their most broad-reaching “Dialogue Encounters” program enables groups to hear the personal narrative and message of reconciliation of one Palestinian and one Israeli with the aim of increasing audience’s willingness to embrace dialogue as an alternative to violence, and to better understand the needs and perspectives of the ‘other side’.

PhotoVoice, the UK-based participatory photography charity, and the Families Forum spent 18 months planning Side by Side as it was the first time that either organisation had developed a photography-based dialogue project. The young participants not only spoke different languages and lived in different cultures but also within communities whose narratives are deeply and historically embedded in opposition and difference. Learning photography together, the project aimed for the young people to gain an insight into each other’s lives, to share their perspectives and to develop understanding and a sense of commonality. 

Between January and July 2007, the young people met four times, engaging in photography and dialogue workshops held on the West Bank, around Jerusalem and by the sea south of Tel Aviv. In between workshops the young people had access to computers and digital cameras and were visited in their home areas by local facilitators who provided additional guidance and support. Participants posted their work on an interactive website designed for the project, and were able to view and comment on the work of others. Gradually, the young people began to share with each other and with time began to open up, build trust and have fun together. 

The project faced many challenges, including the 2006 war in Lebanon, violent clashes in the West Bank and regular checkpoint closures. However, the students were determined to represent an alternative view of the conflict. Their images created an important dialogue between teenagers caught on both sides and became a channel through which they could voice their losses, frustrations and differences over time gaining understanding, common ground and friendship. Their work was exhibited in both East and West Jerusalem as well as in London. It was published in a booklet furthering awareness of notions of dialogue and co-operation.