Majdi Fathi or the 'beautiful face of Gaza'

When thinking of #Gaza #Palestine, the first images that come to mind are usually of mothers struck by grief, children screaming in terror and men lost in anger. The plight of the #Palestinian people isn’t just the injustice of their suffering, but the fact the mainstream representation tells a story most of us can’t relate to.

 

Local #photographer @majdi_fathi has chosen to focus on the beauty of everyday life, ‘because the people of Gaza have a right to be perceived as loving life”. Majdi spends a lot of time by the #sea, ‘the beautiful face of Gaza’ as he calls it, where he got to befriend local #surfers: fishermen and lifeguard families who relax after work by the beach and take turns to share #surfboards that are smuggled in or shaped locally.

Indeed, under #Israeli restrictions, both boards and #wetsuits are banned on count of being potential military artefacts. With additional restrictions preventing people from leaving Gaza or simply swimming further away than 600m from the shore, the eternal crashing of the #waves and #surfing become a unique refuge, ‘the only place to release negative energy and anxiety”.

A father teaching his son, both beaming at his first wave, a universal experience shared by dads all over the world. Let #stoke unite people across the divide ✌. ✒: @_laurence_b, translation Ayman Uweida. 📷: @majdi_fathi #swellbound #reallifestoke #freesurfspirit