Gaza siege kills man's dream of French award

Trapped by Israel and Egypt's blockade of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian photojournalist Mohamed al-Baba missed the chance to be named the Best War Photographer of the year at an award ceremony in France.

Baba's, who works for French news agency AFP, pictures of Israel using white phosphorous bombs in its 22-day air, land and sea assault of the impoverished strip landed him on the list of finalists up for Best War Photographer of the year in the French Payox competition.

“They called me and told me I am a finalist and invited me to take part in the ceremonies and presentations and attend the awards announcement next Friday,” the disappointed journalist,, who also works for the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayam, told Al Arabiya on Sunday.

Baba said he managed to get a Schengen visa, which allows him to enter Europe, and even booked his flight and hotel.

“The last step was to obtain permission to leave the strip through either the Egypt-controlled Rafah crossing or the Israel-controlled Erez Crossing.”

But neither granted him permission and he consequently missed his flight out of Cairo Airport on Oct.9.

“I exerted every possible effort and made personal and official contacts to leave through the Rafah crossing, but to no avail. AFP also contacted the Israeli government for permission to leave through the Erez crossing, but received no answer,” Baba said.

I exerted every possible effort and made personal and official contacts to leave through the Rafah crossing, but to no avail. AFP also contacted the Israeli government for permission to leave through the Erez crossing, but received no answer

Mohammad al-Baba

Exposing Israeli war crimes

Baba even called on Egyptian Intelligence and State Security to aid him in exposing Israeli war crimes against Palestinians to the world, but his request was rejected.

Baba was the only photographer who was able the capture the use of white phosphorous, which causes severe burns on victims, in an Israeli bombing of a Beit Lahia school on Jan. 17.

In 2008, Baba won second place in the international Japanese Days competition for a series of six pictures about the death of Reuters’ photographer Fadel Shana in the Gaza Strip.

One of those pictures won Best News Picture of the year in the ninth Annual Editor and Publisher’s Award. The winning picture, which gained much acclaim later, portrays an injured child in front of Shana’s dead body.

Baba has won several other international awards and has never been able to leave the strip to receive any of them.

Scores of Palestinian photographers and journalists have been awarded international awards in absentia because they all have Baba’s problem of being trapped by the blockade.



(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)