Hand in Hand: Protesters Come Together in Support of Palestine
Photographer Hannah La Follette Ryan documented the many hands of protesters demonstrating across New York City in support of Palestine.
Ever since the Israel-Gaza war broke out, the worlds of the arts and academia have seen a wave of repression against people who dare to speak up for Palestine. Pulitzer Prize–winner Viet Thanh Nguyen signed an open letter condemning Israeli war crimes and saw his appearance at New York’s 92Y canceled. The editor in chief of Artforum, David Velasco, was summarily fired after publishing an open letter calling for a cease-fire in the war. A CAA agent was demoted for sharing Instagram content labeling the violence in Gaza a genocide. College students across the country continue to be targeted for supporting Palestine. At Harvard, a conservative Zionist media group drove a truck around campus displaying students’ personal information on digital billboards.
Blacklisting and professional retaliation are familiar risks for the Palestinian liberation movement. There is a sordid history of these tactics’ being used to suppress pro-Palestine sympathies. It has become commonplace for activists to cover their faces at protests, particularly on college campuses where the discourse is especially inflamed.
At a recent Students for Justice in Palestine rally that I covered at Columbia University, the majority of students were masked or creatively draped in articles of clothing and keffiyahs. To counter hostile surveillance, many organizers now distribute masks as a matter of course.
Yet protesters are taking to the streets in record numbers to denounce Israel’s state-sanctioned violence. Many of these peaceful protests have been smeared as anti-Semitic or as championing Hamas. I debated the ethics of photographing these demonstrations and potentially exposing protesters to further harassment. I landed on capturing slices of the action. To protect identities, I photographed activists’ hands. Their hands became the site of advocacy and political action: holding signs, banners, keffiyahs, holding each other, getting handcuffed.
These photos were taken at protests in the last month organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, Within Our Lifetime, and the Democratic Socialists of America. These hands are in support of a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to the illegal, inhumane Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Thank you for reading The Nation!
We hope you enjoyed the story you just read, just one of the many incisive, deeply-reported articles we publish daily. Now more than ever, we need fearless journalism that shifts the needle on important issues, uncovers malfeasance and corruption, and uplifts voices and perspectives that often go unheard in mainstream media.
Throughout this critical election year and a time of media austerity and renewed campus activism and rising labor organizing, independent journalism that gets to the heart of the matter is more critical than ever before. Donate right now and help us hold the powerful accountable, shine a light on issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug, and build a more just and equitable future.
For nearly 160 years, The Nation has stood for truth, justice, and moral clarity. As a reader-supported publication, we are not beholden to the whims of advertisers or a corporate owner. But it does take financial resources to report on stories that may take weeks or months to properly investigate, thoroughly edit and fact-check articles, and get our stories into the hands of readers.
Donate today and stand with us for a better future. Thank you for being a supporter of independent journalism.
Thank you for your generosity.