Through Others’ Eyes: While everything around them fell apart, these kids decided to capture hope

The photo exhibition of the graduates of the “Through Others’ Eyes” program reaches a new audience via the “Haaretz” newspaper photography blog. You are invited to read and admire the photographs.

Jinan Sharuf Halabi, Head of the “Through Others’ Eyes” program and curator of the exhibition “Hope”:

When I was 15, my brother gave me a camera – and changed my life. I took pictures of my family, of nature around Usfiya, of children in the neighborhood. I waited impatiently for my allowance to buy more film. Then life happened, and 25 years passed before I came full circle and returned to where I am happiest – behind the camera, alongside children from the neighborhood.

It happened when I started working with Jewish and Arab youth in the “Through Others’ Eyes” program, which encourages youth to get to know each other even in the absence of a common verbal language, and to explore their identity through the camera lens. We worked together for the entire year, during which we met once a week, between the news and the bomb sirens. Toward the end, we chose the theme for the final exhibition, and began photographing the final works. This year, despite and because of the endless wars that have crumbled our shared society to dust, the children chose the theme “Hope.”

Seeing the children from outside, it’s hard to tell that there’s anything special here. They look like just another group of self-conscious, giggling 15-year-olds. But the truth is, we’re seeing a wonder; until last year, none of the Jewish teenagers had exchanged a word with their Arab peers, nor vice versa. They were raised – just as we were raised – in separate systems, denying us the opportunity for natural interaction and connection. So what can we do? Connect them.

During the meetings, the children discovered that the vast majority of the playlists they listen to are the same (shocking!), that 90% of the foods they like are the same (no way!) and that almost all of their problems as teenagers are the same. All 20 boys and girls live in Israel, a country that creates endless challenges for them, and they think about what they will do with their lives considering the cards they were dealt at birth. Only after the similarities have been internalized can we begin to break down and understand what is unique to each group, its story, and how each sees the other.

The children who come to the program are curious to get to know each other, but it is important to remember where they come from – they grow up with suspicion and prejudice, overwhelmed by existential fears, and wary of the unknown. They hear about war and violence, are exposed to terrorist attacks and crime, and never exchange a word with children from the other society. When they are offered a year-long joint photography journey, during which they explore questions of identity and belonging, fears and self-fulfillment through the camera – they get closer. In time, they are no longer afraid. They understand that the other is much more like them than they thought.

For the last two years, the program’s start has been delayed due to the difficulty of finding youth who would commit to the process. At the same time, schools that liked the program were also hesitant to accept it, given the atmosphere in the country. But I insisted, and it eventually happened. Against the backdrop of the war, the camera served not only as a technical tool but as a means of emotional survival. An internal compass that offers moments of rapport. The students chose to photograph each other, created compositions of hope together, photographed flowers rather than fences, doves rather than missiles, love rather than alienation. Will these friendships, which sprouted in Givat Haviva, survive the test of time? Only time will tell.