Palestine

"Azza agreed to follow us for us to photograph her in the streets of Gaza. We made the silly choice of taking a first shot in the “bedroom”, which demanded a certain amount of preparation time. Far too long. Very quickly, we were surrounded by a growing band of kids, first curious, then more and more aggressive. They were aged between 8 and 14 years. Azza translated for us: 'dirty whore' or insults in the same vein (…) 'Once when I was at a neighbour’s place,' Azza tells, 'and we heard bombing, her 7-year-old son explained to me that they weren’t F16s but Apache helicopters.

He shouldn’t know such things. He offered to explain to me the difference in their munitions… At 7 years old! Another day, a little 4-year-old girl bravely declared to me that tanks didn’t scare her. 4 years old! There aren’t any children here… Thankfully my general supports me because it’s very difficult for a woman today. My combat is simple and continues daily: for the right of every Palestinian woman to have access to health!'"

Extract from Zoé Zoé, Femmes du mondes, 2007, Éditions Gallimard