Palestine struggle live-streamed from olive groves to world museums

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Sep 2022 20:54
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The campaign, led by Jewish South African artist Adam Broomberg and Palestinian activist Issa Amro, intends to expose the realities of the Palestinian struggle in the occupied city of Al-Khalil, West Bank.

Live streaming of Palestinian struggle from olive groves to museums

Structures that bear no fruit are planted among the olive orchards of Al-Khalil, an occupied Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank. Security cameras operated by "Israel" fill the area and stand at 300 feet apart, as they do in much of Palestinian-occupied territory—one of the most surveilled areas on the planet, The Art Newspaper reported.

This technology has recently progressed. Face recognition software is increasingly exploited by the Israeli occupation to record the faces of West Bank residents. Their image is then compared to a database that a former Israeli soldier called the Israeli military's "Facebook for Palestinians".

Once again, the Israeli occupation infiltrates into the Palestinians' private lives, this time through Blue Wolf. What is it? #Palestine pic.twitter.com/Zxib9ntUeP
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 10, 2021

However, another camera was set in an olive grove in Al-Khalil yesterday evening. Instead of filming for the Israeli government, the camera will be utilized to broadcast a live stream.

A number of European museums, including Bonniers Konsthall Stockholm, Sweden, Nitja in Lillestrm, Norway, FOAM in Amsterdam, Holland, and SI Fest in Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy, will screen the live stream this Friday at 18:00 CET, disclosing to their audiences the realities of the life os hardship in the occupied West Bank.

The webcast is also available online.

"In line with Israeli’s surveillance effort, Artist + Allies x Hebron has created a counter offense by placing surveillance cameras in Palestinian owned olive groves"#Countersurveillance

Watch live here:https://t.co/CFyJycBEho
— Natalie Strecker (@NatalieStrecke1) September 9, 2022

Counter Surveillance is the inaugural effort of the artist group Artists + Allies x "Hebron" (Al-Khalil) (AHH), which aims to bring attention to the living realities and political battles of Al-Khalil's Palestinian population.

It was founded by artist Adam Broomberg and Al-Khalil-based Palestinian activist Issa Amro, and it is funded by a number of Palestinian and German private individuals.

"Our version of the electronic gaze does not seek to control, punish, or instill fear," Broomberg says.

"Rather, it is an attempt at a community-building strategy that spans the globe, and an opportunity to demonstrate solidarity by ensuring that the courageous residents of Hebron are not only surveilled but also seen," he adds.

Olive trees are an important aspect of Palestinian society, accounting for around 14% of the national economy; olive farming is a significant source of income for 100,000 Palestinian households. As a result, settlers' violence frequently targets olive trees.

Since 1967, Israeli officials and settlers have uprooted 800,000 olive trees planted in Palestinian areas. More than 9,300 olive trees were damaged in the West Bank between August 2020 and 2021.

Once again, the Israeli occupation infiltrates into the Palestinians' private lives, this time through Blue Wolf. What is it? #Palestine pic.twitter.com/Zxib9ntUeP
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 10, 2021

As a result, the live stream allows the rest of the globe to keep a close eye on the trees, some of which are over 900 years old. A "cybersecurity specialist", according to Broomberg, was hired to ensure that the 4G connection from the custom-made camera could not be intercepted.

The project aims to deepen the public's understanding of Al-Khalil, which Broomberg refers to as a "microcosm" of "Israel's wider apartheid regime in the West Bank."

"I’ve never seen anything like Hebron, including during my own experience living under South African apartheid," says Broomberg, who is from Johannesburg.

The AAH project aims to establish a residency in Al-Khalil. The project owners have not disclosed which artists, whom they described as "internationally celebrated, famous", they have confirmed to come.

The project aims to help build legal cases to protect Palestinian families from forced expulsions in order to make way for an Israeli military shooting range.