‘This is not me': Reluctant Gazan war photographer Motaz Azaiza draws crowds, funds in US tour
PHILADELPHIA, June 26 — At a church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hundreds of people gathered recently for a weeknight charity fundraiser hosted by a celebrity guest.
The venue was not announced in advance due to security concerns, and attendance cost at least US$60 (RM255) a pop — with some spending US$1,000 to get a photo with the host.
Yet, the event was not a gala hosted by a movie star or famed politician, but by a photojournalist: Gaza native Motaz Azaiza, whose images of the Israeli assault following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas launched him to international recognition.
Wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and gold-framed glasses, the 26-year-old boasts nearly 17 million followers on Instagram for his images from the war in Gaza.
'I wish you would have known me without the genocide,' Azaiza told the crowd, his voice faltering.
Before the war, Azaiza was a relative unknown, posting photos from his daily life in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip to his roughly 25,000 Instagram followers at the time.
But as soon as the first strikes from Israel hit Gaza, he became a war photographer by virtue of circumstance, and his wartime posts soon went viral.
'As a photojournalist, I can't watch this like anyone else, I'm from there, this is my home,' Azaiza said.
'I want to go back'
After surviving 108 days of Israeli bombardment, Azaiza managed to escape Gaza via Egypt, and he has since become an ambassador of sorts for the Palestinian territory, sharing the story of his people as the conflict rages on.
'Every time you feel like you regret leaving, but then you lose a friend, you lose a family, you say, OK, I saved my life,' Azaiza said.
Before the war, Azaiza had been hired to manage the online content for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the humanitarian agency accused by Israel of providing cover for Hamas militants.
This month, he is touring the United States to raise money for UNRWA USA, a nonprofit which collects funding for the agency.
'I can't handle this much of fame...it's a real big responsibility,' Azaiza told AFP from the fundraiser in Philadelphia.
'This is not me... I'm waiting to the genocide to stop. I want to go back to Gaza, continue my work capturing pictures,' he added.
At one point he embedded himself in the crowd, posing for a selfie before shaking hands with donors.
At the fundraiser, a UNRWA USA official solicited donations.
'Is there someone who wants to give US$20,000? I would like to have US$20,000. Nobody? Is there someone who want to give US$10,000? I would like to have US$10,000,' the official calls out.
Once the call lowered to US$5,000, five hands raised, and even more went up when asked for donations of US$2,000 and US$1,000.
One of the donors, Nabeel Sarwar, told AFP Azaiza's photographs 'humanize' the people in Gaza.
'When you see a picture, when you see a child, you relate to that child, you relate to the body language, you relate to the dust on their face, the hunger, the sadness on their face,' Sarwar said.
'I think it's those pictures that really brought home towards the real tragedy of what's going on in Gaza.'
'A million words'
Veronica Murgulescu, a 25-year-old medical student from Philadelphia, concurred.
'I think that people like Motaz and other Gazan journalists have really stuck a chord with us, because you can sense the authenticity,' she said.
'The mainstream media that we have here in the US, at least, and in the West, it lacks authenticity,' she added.
Sahar Khamis, a communications professor at the University of Maryland who specializes in Arab and Muslim media in the Middle East, said Gazan journalists like Azaiza who have become social media influencers 'reshape public opinion, especially among youth, not just in the Arab world, not just in the Middle East, but globally and internationally, including in the United States.'
'The visuals are very, very important and very powerful and very compelling...as we know in journalism, that one picture equals a thousand words.
'And in the case of war and conflict, it can equal a million words, because you can tell through these short videos and short images and photos a lot of things that you cannot say in a whole essay.' — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
11 hours ago
- Malay Mail
‘Not a god': Arguments end in Combs trial ahead of deliberations
NEW YORK, June 28 — Sean 'Diddy' Combs's lawyer aimed yesterday to skewer the credibility of the music mogul's accusers, saying in closing arguments they were out for money while rejecting any notion he led a criminal ring. But in their rebuttal—the trial's final stage before jurors are tasked with deciding the verdict—prosecutors tore into the defense, saying Combs's team had 'contorted the facts endlessly.' Prosecutor Maurene Comey told jurors that by the time Combs—once among the most powerful people in music—had committed his clearest-cut offenses, 'he was so far past the line he couldn't even see it.' 'In his mind he was untouchable,' she told the court. 'The defendant never thought that the women he abused would have the courage to speak out loud what he had done to them.' 'That ends in this courtroom,' she said. 'The defendant is not a god.' For most of Friday's hearing defense attorney Marc Agnifilo picked apart, and even made light of, the testimony of women who were in long-term relationships with Combs, and who said he had coerced them into drug-fueled sex parties with paid escorts. Agnifilo scoffed at the picture painted by prosecutors of a violent, domineering man who used his employees, wealth and power to foster 'a climate of fear' that allowed him to act with impunity. Combs, 55, is a 'self-made, successful Black entrepreneur' who had romantic relationships that were 'complicated' but consensual, Agnifilo said. In his freewheeling, nearly four-hour-long argument, Agnifilo aimed to confuse the methodic narrative US attorney Christy Slavik provided one day prior. She had spent nearly five hours meticulously walking the jury through the charges and their legal basis, summarizing thousands of phone, financial, travel and audiovisual records along with nearly seven weeks of testimony from 34 witnesses. Central to their case is the claim that Combs led a criminal enterprise of senior employees—including his chief-of-staff and security guards—who 'existed to serve his needs.' But Agnifilo underscored that none of those individuals testified against Combs, nor were they named as co-conspirators. 'This is supposed to be simple,' the defense counsel told jurors. 'If you find that you're in the weeds of this great complexity, maybe it's because it just isn't there.' If convicted, Combs faces upwards of life in prison. 'Brazen' Casandra Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane described abuse, threats and coercive sex in excruciating detail. Combs's defense has conceded that domestic violence was a feature of the artist's relationships, but that his outbursts did not amount to sex trafficking. The defense insisted the women were consenting adults. Prosecutor Comey snapped back that they were being 'manipulated' into 'brazen' acts of sex trafficking, reiterating once again for jurors what the government says are the clearest-cut examples. Agnifilo pointed to Ventura's civil lawsuit against Combs in which she was granted US$20 million: 'If you had to pick a winner in this whole thing, it would be Cassie,' he said. Comey called that notion insulting: 'What was her prize? Black eyes? A gash in her head? Sex for days with a UTI?' The prosecutor also pointed to a violent episode between Combs and Jane, when she says she struck him in an argument before he brutally beat her, knocked her down in the shower, and then forced her into giving an escort oral sex. 'Jane may have started that fight, but he finished it with a vengeance,' Comey said, calling that incident the most obvious sex trafficking case and saying he had 'literally beaten her into submission.' Throughout the trial, jurors were shown voluminous phone records, including messages of affection and desire from both women—and Agnifilo emphasized the love and romance once again. Both prosecutors said taking those words literally, and in isolation, doesn't paint the whole picture. They also referenced testimony from a forensic psychologist who explained to jurors how victims become ensnared by abusers. 'The defense is throwing anything they can think of at the wall, hoping something will stick,' Comey said. On Monday, Judge Arun Subramanian will instruct jurors on how to apply the law to the evidence for their deliberations. Then, 12 New Yorkers will determine Combs's future. But Combs's legal worries may not end there, after three new sexual assault lawsuits were filed against him this week. One was by a woman who alleged the rapper's son, Justin, lured her from the southern state of Louisiana to Los Angeles where she was held captive, drugged and gang raped by three masked men in 2017. One of the men was allegedly Sean Combs. The other two cases were filed by men who accuse the rapper and his team of drugging and sexually assaulting them at parties in 2021 and 2023. — AFP
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Malay Mail
Burglars raid Brad Pitt's LA mansion as he promotes new ‘F1' movie abroad
LOS ANGELES, June 27 — Burglars broke into Brad Pitt's Los Angeles home on Thursday, ransacking the property and fleeing with stolen items while the Oscar-winning actor was traveling to promote his new racing thriller F1, US media reported. A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told NBC News that a break-in took place at a residence in the Los Feliz neighbourhood around 10.30pm (1.30pm Malaysian time today), without officially confirming who owned the home. Police sources told NBC News and the Los Angeles Times that three suspects climbed over a front fence and broke in through the home's front window before ransacking the location and fleeing with some belongings. The value of the stolen items has not been disclosed. Pitt was not home at the time, as he has been on a global promotional tour for his new movie F1. The 61-year-old actor attended the film's premiere in London this week. The property was purchased by Pitt in 2023 for US$5.5 million (RM23.26 million), according to Variety magazine. Pitt is the among the most recent celebrities to have their Los Angeles homes burglarised. About US$500,000 of jewellery was allegedly stolen from the home of French striker Olivier Giroud of MLS side Los Angeles FC in a burglary in February. That same month, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's residence was reportedly burglarised. — AFP
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Malay Mail
Anna Wintour steps down as US Vogue editor after 37 years, continues global role
NEW YORK, June 27 — Magazine legend Anna Wintour stepped down as editor of US Vogue on Thursday after 37 years during which she was often hailed as the single most influential figure in the fashion world. Wintour, 75, was famous for making Vogue's front covers an authoritative statement on contemporary fashion, and for her total control over the glamorous pages inside. She will no longer run day-to-day editing of the fashion bible, but magazine group owner Conde Nast was quick to scotch suggestions of retirement. She will continue to hold senior roles at the group and remain Vogue's global editorial director. British-born Wintour came to public renown as the inspiration for 'The Devil Wears Prada,' a hit 2003 novel and 2006 movie, for which Meryl Streep earned an Oscar nomination for her role as tyrannical magazine editor Miranda Priestly. Wintour announced at a staff meeting in New York that US Vogue would seek a new head of editorial content. In remarks reported by the New York Times, she called it 'a 'pivotal decision' but stressed she would not be moving out of her office. 'I'll be turning all my attention to global leadership and working with our team of brilliant editors around the world.' Fashion flagship Wintour was made a British dame in 2017 and in February this year became a companion of honour—an elite recognition. At the ceremony in London in February, Wintour removed her trademark sunglasses to receive the award and said she had told King Charles III that she had no plans to stop working. Wintour, who was raised in the UK by a British father and an American mother, reigned over Vogue in the heyday of glossy magazines. US Vogue was a staid title when she took it over in 1988 and transformed it into a powerhouse that set trends—and often make or break designers, celebrities and brands. She took the title to a global audience, with huge budgets to spend on models, design, photographs and journalism funded by lavish advertisements and high subscription rates. Vogue remains fashion's flagship magazine but, like many print publications, has struggled to adapt to the digital era. Known to some as 'Nuclear Wintour' for her decisive leadership, such as axing work without discussion, she was also a fixture in the front row at catwalk shows with her unchanging bob haircut. A 2015 documentary 'The September Issue' about the monthly magazine featured her ice queen image and steely ambition but also revealed a warmer human side. Wintour has for many years also run the Met Gala, an extravagant Manhattan charity event that attracts an A-list of dressed-up stars from the worlds of fashion, film, politics and sports. She is a fanatical tennis player and fan—frequently appearing at Grand Slam finals—and a major fundraiser for Democrat politicians including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the top US honor, before leaving office in January. As Conde Nast's chief content officer, she will continue to oversee publications including Vogue, Wired, Vanity Fair, GQ, Conde Nast Traveler and Glamour. For many years, Wintour declined to comment on 'The Devil Wears Prada,' which was written by one of her former assistants, Lauren Weisberger. But when it was turned into a musical and opened in London in 2024, she told the BBC that it was 'for the audience and for the people I work with to decide if there are any similarities between me and Miranda Priestly.' Explaining her sunglasses, she told the outlet that 'they help me see and they help me not see. They help me be seen and not be seen. They are a prop, I would say.' — AFP
