LIFE BEHIND THE WALL

• Prize
• Photographer
  Georg Zinsler, Austria

Israeli Settlers attack Palestinians almost daily in Palestine. Israeli
security forces systematically refrain from protecting the
Palestinians and from enforcing the law on the assailants.
And while Israeli settlers in the West Bank fall mostly under civilian
rule, Palestinians are subject to Israeli military law. Israeli and
Palestinians face inequities at every stage in the path of justice,
from arrests to convictions and sentencing.

Wherever I go in Palestine, I get to see walls, fences, destroyed
houses, traumatised children and frightened parents.

Benjamin Netanyahu, now one of the longest serving prime
ministers in Israeli history, has provided very few indications that
he is willing to enable the Palestinians to build a viable contiguous
state. He appears confident that the status quo is tenable, and
that occupation and settlement of the West Bank can continue to
violate international law without facing any serious repercussions.

But what will happen in case the current peace efforts, led by U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry, will end in failure? In the past, the
failure of negotiations has often led to Palestinian-initiated
violence.

During my visit I feel overwhelmed and powerless. A feeling many
Palestinians are confronted with every day. A feeling many
Palestinian children grow up with.