And three. No fewer than three Visa d’Or were awarded to Palestinian photographers from the Gaza Strip at the Visa pour l’Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan. Not without making waves, as the deadly war waged for eleven months in Gaza by Israel after the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023 has inflamed minds.
After Loay Ayyoub, winner of the young reporter prize of the city of Perpignan for his work with the Washington Post, and Samar Abu Elouf, collaborator of the New York Timeswinner of the Sipa daily press prize, it was Mahmud Hams, a contributor to Agence France-Presse (AFP), who won the highest award, the Visa d’or news, during the final evening on Saturday, September 7, for images that show the tragic life of Gazans: entire families killed or buried under bombs, forced displacement, desperate efforts to feed themselves, find shelter, and get medical care. The toll of this conflict, according to figures from the Hamas health ministry, amounts to more than 40,000 dead, the majority of them civilians.
As a sign of the tensions, that very afternoon, a pro-Palestinian demonstration noisily crossed the city. And during the ceremony, in a packed Campo Santo, the mayor (National Rally, RN), Louis Aliot, was conspicuous by his absence: he created controversy from the opening of the festival by refusing to present his prize in person to the young Loay Ayyoub, exhibited at the Couvent des Minimes with a subject on The Tragedy of GazaThe elected official had denounced a lack of” balance “ of Visa pour l’image, regretting the absence of an exhibition devoted to the massacres of October 7, 2023. On France Bleu, he accused the photographer of proximity to Hamas, reproaching him for designating the organization, on his social networks, under the term “Palestinian resistance.”
Read also | Visa pour l’image Festival: the Visa d’or news awarded to Palestinian photographer Mahmud Hams
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On stage, the new president of the festival, Pierre Conte, was keen to clarify this concentration of prizes: “No one should see this as a political message, a position taken in a terrible conflict that has lasted for too long. (…) This should be seen as a moment when the entire profession respectfully salutes and encourages the only photojournalists who are on the ground in Gaza.” Because in this event dedicated to journalism, professionals are faced with an exceptional situation: the total ban by Israel, since the beginning of the war, on allowing foreign reporters to enter the field, forcing international media to rely entirely on Gazan journalists, and encouraging debates on the reliability of informants.
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