IN STEREO

[Dheisheh is different from Bethlehem] because it’s a [refugee] camp. It’s the one that’s living in suffering today. In terms of job opportunities, in terms of living space, what it’s like in these houses. It’s the one that gives and gives martyrs and prisoners. Generally, people outside of the camp are [living] somewhat comfortably and not wanting. So it’s that. You truly live suffering here. Here we have arrived at the camp’s gate. This is the martyrs’ memorial I was telling you about. It’s a big map of Palestine, in stone. This is the home key, a symbol that we will necessarily return.

Because our grandparents, when they were expelled, everyone took their key with them. So the form of the key is the symbol, and it means so much for us. Now, these photos you’re seeing, these are the photos of the imprisonments for life from the camp, the long sentences, from twenty years and up. That one [says] we are the owners of the land; we have a past, a present and a future. That saying is difficult: ‘Oh, bloodied eyes and hands, the light is impermanent’. It means you who are crying, who are sleeping at night in a prison cell, this room will go away, and chains will be broken. – Ahmed