Ahmad Jamhour’s People of Palestine Reem Farhat
Where do you think that attachment to Palestine comes from for you? What I love so much about New Jersey is the Palestinian, Muslim and Arab communities that we have here. It is one of the biggest blessings that I have had in my life to have grown up around so many of my own people and that is very rare to find in any Western environment. I think that is why I was so attached to Palestine growing up. My parents always drove the idea in my head that you’re always Palestinian no matter what, and you have to stand up for Palestine.
Photo by Ahmad Jamhour
Because your project centers around PalestinianAmericans in particular, what do you think it is that Palestinian Americans have to share and say and why is our narrative important?
Ahmad Jamhour is PACC’s head photography intern, a very active member of the community, and a talented photographer. This August, he launched his photography project “People of Palestine” which highlights Palestinian American youth in the Greater New York Area. The project can be viewed on his Instagram @peopleofpalestinenj. We sat down with him to learn about his inspiration for the project, what it means to be a Palestinian American, and how he connects to his Palestinian identity. We will be featuring his project throughout this volume of Falastin.
Another blessing of living in the West is that we have certain privileges that allow us to talk about and inform people about Palestine. Recently, people in general, especially non-Palestinians, are becoming more receptive to conversations about Palestine. I really think it is the beginning of change. If people's ideas surrounding Palestine change, start to see the atrocities that are being committed against Palestinians, and understand the oppression that Palestinians live under, they're going to open their eyes and realize it’s wrong. I think it is the beginning of something big for Palestine.
When did you get into photography?
What do you think is the power of photography?
It kind of just started as something I learned when I was bored. I used to have this iPad mini when I was in the fourth grade and there was an app on there where you can use different filters to take pictures, and that interested me a lot. I started going outside and taking pictures with that very same iPad. I developed a love for taking pictures and trying to see the beauty in everything around me. It took off from there.
The power of media and the power of photography is really just showing people what is going on. Take the explosion in Lebanon not too long ago; would we really have known how big the explosion was had it not been recorded? Would we really have thought it would have been that big of a deal if we didn't see the pictures and if we didn't see the people crying and all the streets covered in blood everywhere. Heartbreaking pictures make us want to do 14
