War in Gaza takes center stage at Perpignan photojournalism festival – Technologist

No less than three Visa d’or were awarded to Palestinian photographers from the Gaza Strip at the Visa pour l’Image photojournalism festival in the southern French city of Perpignan this weekend. Yet, this didn’t happen without making waves, as the murderous war Israel has been waging in Gaza for the past 11 months following the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, has stoked tensions.

After Loay Ayyoub, the winner of the young reporter prize awarded by the city of Perpignan for his work with The Washington Post; and Samar Abu Elouf, New York Times contributor and winner of the Sipa daily press award; it was Mahmud Hams, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) contributor, who won the top prize, the Visa d’or News, on Saturday, September 7, the final evening of the festival. Hams’ award-winning images show the tragic lives of Gazans: Entire families killed or buried under the bombing, forced displacement, as well as people’s desperate efforts to feed, house and treat themselves. According to figures from the Hamas-administrated health ministry, the conflict has claimed over 40,000 lives, most of them civilians.

As a sign of the tensions, a pro-Palestinian protest, which had been held that Saturday, could be heard across town. Moreover, at the ceremony, in the city’s historic Campo Santo cloister, which was packed to the rafters, the far-right mayor, Louis Aliot, was conspicuously absent: He had sparked a controversy at the opening of the festival by refusing to personally award the young Ayyoub, whose exhibition entitled “The Tragedy of Gaza” was on display at the Minimes convent, his prize. Aliot had condemned Visa pour l’Image’s lack of “balance,” regretting the absence of an exhibition devoted to the October 7, 2023, massacres. On local radio, he had accused the photographer of being close to Hamas, criticizing him for referring to the organization as “the Palestinian resistance” on his social media accounts.

Editorial independence

On stage, the festival’s new president, Pierre Conte, was keen to set the record straight about this concentration of awards: “No one should see this as a political message, as taking a stand in an appalling conflict that has been going on for too long. (…) It should be seen as a moment when the entire profession respectfully salutes, and gives its encouragement, to the only photojournalists who are on the ground in Gaza.” Indeed, at this event which is dedicated to journalism, professional photographers are faced with an exceptional situation: Israel’s total ban on foreign reporters entering the territory, since the start of the war. It has forced the international media to rely on Gazan journalists entirely, and fostered debate about informants’ trustworthiness.

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