Arts and culture

Abdel Nasser Amer's "Sweet dreams"



Abdel Nasser Amer is an artist who lives and works in the city of Khan Younis in the occupied Gaza Strip. During Israel’s 2008-09 winter invasion of Gaza, Amer’s studio and some of his art were destroyed. Amer won a competition for a six-month residency with the Swiss Visual Artists Association in Neuchatel, Switzerland where he is working on his latest project, Rehaan (the sweet smell of dreams). The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviews Amer to discuss his life and work. 

Palestine's endangered vistas captured in "Masharef"



The Shat-ha walking group leaves Ramallah every Friday morning. The group, founded in 2006 by Dr. Saleh Abdel Jawad, a Birzeit University history and political science professor, and economist Samia Botmeh, has explored the West Bank from its green north to desert south. Now Masharef (Vistas), an exhibition of new photographs by members of the group, brings the threatened beauty of the Palestinian landscape to a wider audience. 

No animals, no visitors at Gaza's lone zoo



ZEITOUN, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - “We haven’t had a single visit yet through Ramadan, what kind of zoo doesn’t get visitors during holidays?” asks Mahmoud Barghoud, 22, co-creator of the Marha zoo. The Marha Land zoo and children’s park lies halfway between Gaza and Deir al-Balah on the main north-south highway running Gaza’s length, waiting for customers to visit. 

Lifta's legacy under threat



There are few villages in historic Palestine which invoke the memories of the Nakba (the 1948 dispossession of the Palestinian people) as does Lifta. However, Lifta’s architectural legacy is under threat as Israel moves to Judaize the formerly pluralistic Palestinian village. 

Pages