Magnum Photos Blog

The Daily Gallery 

Then Palestine 

November 16, 2012 
For generations now, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a geopolitical fact-of-life -- a constant, like gravity. It is the world's proverbial unsolvable puzzle, with the possibility of peace seeming, at most times, so out of reach that we often don't allow ourselves to dream of it.

From 1993-1997, Magnum photographer Larry Towell made seven trips to Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, capturing the region and the almost quotidian violence that was present during and after the first Palestinian intifada. Today, in light of current events, The Daily Gallery revisits Towell's work, for one of conflict photography's greatest purposes is to serve as a reference that may allow us to learn from our past.