Photographers and star-crossed lovers from around the world have gotten together to produce a video for Palestinian lovers this Valentine`s Day. The video targets Israel`s Citizenship Law, which prohibits Palestinian spouses (read: West Bank and Gaza) of Israeli citizens from gaining residency or citizenship in Israel.
More than 30,000 people are denied basic rights and are threatened with imminent forced separation because of the law. It is important to note that the law disproportionately targets Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are much more likely to marry Palestinians in the territories than Jewish citizens, leading the UN to condemn it as racially discriminatory. This temporary order is up for renewal at the Israeli Knesset for the 11th time near the end of April 2014.
The stop-motion graphic features tiny stories of love and sacrifice from five different countries, culminating with Palestine, where many have given up basic residency rights to be with the ones they love. In other words, they`ve "given up everything but their hearts."
Contributions for the video were crowdsourced from Cairo, Paris, NYC, and Dubai! Soliciting international contributions is a way to show global kinship in love this Valentine`s Day, while at the same time expressing solidarity with Palestinians separated by Israeli laws.
The video marks the launch of Visualizing Palestine`s newest campaign Segregated by Color, which sheds light on the Israeli-controlled system of colored ID cards, responsible for separating Palestinians from their families and loved ones. A Human Rights Watch Report says that there are over 640,000 Palestinians in the occupied territories at risk of being forcibly separated from a direct family member who holds a different colored ID, or no ID at all.
Segregated by Color was funded by the Arab Human Rights Fund and 430 amazing individuals through Visualizing Palestine`s 2013 crowdfunding campaign.