50+ years on is about evoking change. It is about Palestinians living in Lebanon as refugees for 50+ years after the first conflict landed them there and the fact that they are still treated as sub-humans after this period of time. We are talking about living in sub-human conditions for at least the last two generations of their existence in a country that denies their rights. They are denied the rights to purchase property but yet these so refugee camps that they live in cannot be rebuilt or maintained because they are deemed by the government as “temporary” structures that should be taken down…50+ years on! Still marginalized from both the perspectives of poverty and race. They are denied the right to the same standards of schooling and professions where they do not have access to at least 80 professions that may thug them out of poverty. The list goes on. 50+ years on is about change. Despite of the current conflict between Israel and Palestine, there is a future generation of Palestinians out there, who deserve the most basics of life: Rights. This is an ongoing personal project.
| Life in Shatila refugee camp situated in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon, appeared as normal as any other marginalised neighbourhood can be. Business went on as usual and children played innocently amongst buildings bearing heavy scars of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that continues today. Shatila was set up as a long-term refugee camp for Palestinian refugees back in 1949. It seems to me this camp will remain for generations to come. The locals harbour more hopeful sentiments. They feel encouraged even just to breathe the air near Palestine, their home.