Review by Maysam Ghani
Driving in Palestine stands as a daily act of refusal, vehemently rejecting the colonial entity that asserts its dominance through militarized control and suffocation of Palestinian land and spirit. In the photography book, compelling images and narratives breathe life into a scarred landscape, celebrating the unwavering presence of Palestinian people in the face of Israeli occupation. Palestinian artist and scholar Rehab Nazzal’s photos capture the illogical and unnatural infrastructure at the heart of the Zionist settler-colonial project.
The book is driven by a “politics of mobility” that Nazzal experienced first-hand, traversing the occupied West Bank between 2010 and 2020. By rejecting confinement, resisting oppression, and refusing to succumb to despair, the act of driving through Palestine embodies defiance, hope, and generativity, which are vital necessities for the survivance and future of Palestinian land and life.
In Driving in Palestine, Nazzal and other invited Palestinian and Canadian scholars and artists share black-and-white photographs, hand-drawn maps, and critical essays in Arabic and English that refuse settler-colonial logics, giving voice to the landscape itself.
To read the full review, please visit www.herizons.ca or purchase a copy of their Fall 2023 issue.
— Herizons Magazine, Fall 2023 Issue