The Month in Pictures: April 2012

Palestinian Prisoners’ Day is marked each year on 17 April. The political prisoners issue was at the forefront throughout April — Hana al-Shalabi ended her 43 days of hunger strike after she was released but forcibly transferred to Gaza. Khader Adnan, who was on hunger strike for more than two months, returned home from Israeli prison to Arrabe village in the northern West Bank. Both al-Shalabi and Adnan were held without charge or trial, a widely condemned practice called administrative detention. Meanwhile, Palestinian grassroots resistance leader Bassem Tamimi was released on bail late last month but is confined to Ramallah, away from his village, as he awaits further court proceedings.

Palestinian Christians celebrated Easter this month, in the face of Israeli restrictions on freedom of movement to holy places. Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip continued to buckle under the oppressive weight of Israel’s siege, Jewish colonial settlers destroyed and occupied Palestinian property, and Israel repressed Palestinian popular protests and actions in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Tel Aviv and the Welcome to Palestine 2012 fly-in at Ben Gurion airport.

The Month in Pictures is a monthly feature from The Electronic Intifada documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, and international solidarity with Palestine.

Hana al-Shalabi makes "victory" hand gesture while resting on bed

Hana al-Shalabi at al-Quds hospital in Gaza City after being released from Israeli prison following 43 days of hunger strike, 2 April. Shalabi was held without charge and forcibly transferred by Israel to the Gaza Strip.

Ashraf Amra APA images
Woman kisses Khader Adnan on cheek as well-wishers look on

Khader Adnan is welcomed home to Arrabe village near Jenin in the northern West Bank, 17 April.

Ayman Nobani Xinhua
Bassem Tamimi hugs his wife in hallway

Grassroots resistance leader Bassem Tamimi embraces his wife Nariman in Ramallah after his release from Israeli jail, 24 April. Tamimi, one of the central figures in Nabi Saleh village’s popular struggle against the settlements and land theft, was released on bail after more than a year in prison.

Anne Paq ActiveStills
Crowd greets man standing through car moon roof

Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal Mukabber celebrate the release of Tawfiq Iwisaat after 18 years of imprisonment by Israel, 25 April.

Mahfouz Abu Turk APA images
Fainted man is carried through crowd

The father of three Palestinian children killed during a fire caused by a candle lit during one of besieged Gaza’s frequent blackouts is carried during his children’s funeral procession in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 2 April.

Ashraf Amra APA images
Woman is seen through broken window

The Natsheh family of Beit Hanina in occupied East Jerusalem are evicted from their home to make way for Jewish settlers, 18 April.

Mahfouz Abu Turk APA images
Woman pleads to Israeli soldiers in destroyed olive grove

A Palestinian woman in the village of Beit Ilu, west of Ramallah in the West Bank, reacts after her olive trees were destroyed in a suspected “price tag” attack by settlers from Nhaliel settlement, 16 April. “Price tag” attacks are usually carried out by extreme Jewish right-wing settlers in response to steps by the Israeli government to dismantle outposts or to carry out measures seen as harmful to the settlement enterprise.

Issam Rimawi APA images
Men display tear gas cannisters

Tear gas canisters fired by Israeli soldiers at Palestinian students at a school in Oref village near the West Bank city of Nablus after Jewish settlers from Yetshar attacked the school, 23 April.

Wagdi Eshtayah APA images
Girls shout and display victory hand gesture to armed Israeli soldiers

Palestinian children confront Israeli soldiers during the weekly protest against the occupation in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, 20 April.

Oren Ziv ActiveStills
Man displays poster of Juliano Mer Khamis

The first anniversary of the murder of Freedom Theatre director Juliano Mer-Khamis is marked in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 4 April.

Issam Rimawi APA images
Man spray-paints portrait of Vittorio Arrigoni

A Palestinian artist puts the final touches on a black and white mural in  Gaza City dedicated to the Italian solidarity activist Vittorio Arrigoni on 14 April. The first anniversary of the activist’s murder in Gaza was marked in April.

Ashraf Amra APA images
Pharmacist displays empty stocks of medicine

A pharmacist displays diminishing stocks of medicines at a hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 15 April. Gaza has lacked essential medicines and medical equipment as a result of Israel’s years-long siege.

  Eyad al-Baba APA images
Demonstrator holds Quran and points toward sky

Supporters of Hamas at Palestine Polytechnic University in the West Bank city of Hebron during a student council elections campaign, 24 April 2012.

Mamoun Wazwaz APA images
Crowd holds crosses and drums during holy fire ceremony

Palestinian Christians from the Greek Orthodox Church chant and sing in the streets with candles and crosses during the Easter Holy Fire ritual in the Old City of Jerusalem, 14 April.

Ryan Rodrick Beiler
Girl covers her ears with bagpipers in foreground

A Palestinian girl holds her ears as youth play bagpipes in a Catholic Scouts marching band during the Easter Holy Fire ritual in Jerusalem, 14 April.

Ryan Rodrick Beiler
Boy with slingshot in field with settlement mid-rises in background

A boy wields a slingshot in front of Israeli settlements during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Bilin, marking the end of the seventh annual international conference for popular resistance, 13 April.

Ahmad Al-Bazz ActiveStills
Actors dressed as Israeli soldiers point fake guns at cowering young man

Palestinian actors from An-Najah National University in the West Bank city of Ramallah act out the arrest of a Palestinian youth, 22 April.

Nedal Eshtaya APA images
Palestinians march holding signs with the names of destroyed villages

Palestinians carry signs reading the names of villages destroyed during the 1948 Nakba in the village of Abu Snan during the annual March of Return, 26 April.

Ahmad Gharabali AFP Photo
Students look at mock wall displaying messages about Palestine

A mock wall highlighting Israeli apartheid was put up by Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States, 19 April.

Benjamin Stone Flickr
Activists display signs reading "Welcome to Palestine," surrounded by media

Israeli activists during a Welcome to Palestine 2012 fly-in protest at Ben Gurion airport, 15 April.

ActiveStills
Israelis wave state flag and display signs with ultra-nationalist messaging

A demonstrator holds a sign calling for the deportation of “leftists” and a sticker reading “Kahane was right!” during a counter-demonstration outside a memorial day event commemorating Palestinian and Israeli lives lost to conflict organized by Combatants for Peace, Tel Aviv, 24 April.

ActiveStills
Police arrest man reading from book

Israeli riot police arrest an Israeli activist during a Tel Aviv event commemorating the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, in the midst of the Zionist “Independence Day” celebrations, 25 April.

ActiveStills
Man sits surrounded by colorfully packaged paper products

An exhibition of national products opens at the Islamic University in Gaza City, 22 April.

Naaman Omar APA images
Man pours beer into glass

Nadeem Khoury, founder of Taybeh Brewery, pours beer at his factory in the West Bank village of Taybeh, near Ramallah, 18 April.

Fadi Arouri Xinhua
Boy jumps into spring

A Palestinian boy jumps in a natural spring near Ramallah in the West Bank, 10 April.

Issam Rimawi APA images
Young man rides horse decorated with flowers

A youth rides a horse during a championship at the Gaza Horse Club, 6 April.

Ali Jadallah APA images
Man works on calligraphic art

A calligrapher participates in an exhibition featuring Palestinian heritage at the Islamic University in Gaza City, 15 April.

Mohammed Asad APA images
Girls smile and raise "victory" hand gesture in front of Dome of the Rock

Palestinian children visit al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 9 April.

Mahfouz Abu Turk APA images
Girl using wheelchair paints on a mural

Disabled Palestinian children paint at a charity association celebration in Gaza City, 23 April.

Ali Jadallah APA images
Two people push cart on the shore of the sea

The beach at Gaza City, 20 April.

Eyad Al Baba APA images

The Electronic Intifada welcomes photographic contributions from readers. If you have high-quality images for consideration for the next edition of the Month in Photos, email info A T electronicintifada D O T net.

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