In Hebron's Old City, 400 illegal Israeli settlers, and the 1,200 Israeli soldiers placed inside the city to protect them, restrict the movement of thousands of Palestinians residing and working in the Old City and its immediate neighborhoods.


A boy studies for his high school exams in Dheisheh refugee camp. Located near Bethlehem, Dheisheh houses refugees from 45 villages who fled what is now Israel during the 1948 war. Over 12,000 people inhabit an area less than 1/2 square mile.


In the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, a Palestinian shopowner looks out into the empty market, past a column marked with a Star of David.


Palestinians in the West Bank village of Abu Dis, many of whom hold Jerusalem residency cards, must apply for permits and wait at gates or checkpoints to reach East Jerusalem. Others, like those here, find a place to cross through one of the holes in Israel's separation wall.


In the West Bank, twelve main checkpoints, such as this one in Qalandia, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, have been converted into what are being called 'terminals' or hi-tech crossing points with metal detectors, x-ray machines and video cameras. Checkpoints, roadblocks, identification and permit requirements have made movement throughout the West Bank nearly impossible, increasingly isolating people from one another.



A woman in the West Bank village of Jayyous at a gate in Israel's separation wall. In the village, the wall deviates up to 6km from the Green Line, encircles about 500 homes and separates the people of Jayyous from 75% of their agricultural land, including greenhouses, citrus orchards and olive groves.

Lisa Nessan is a Jewish American photographer from the San Francisco Bay Area who lived in the West Bank from September 2002-August 2005. Her photography and writing can be seen at www.freckle.blogs.com.