AISHEEN [STILL ALIVE IN GAZA]

The ghost train lies among the ruins that stretch as far as the eye can see. In February 2009, the Israeli military’s ‘Operation Cast Lead’ has just ended. There are 1400 dead in the Gaza Strip. All that remains are signs of the daily struggle for survival: medical convoys and supply tunnels at the border with Egypt; a hospital for bomb victims; emergency shelters amid devastated landscapes. At Gaza City’s beach the sea is a vital source of nourishment while animal instincts come into play at the UN Food Distribution Centre. The zoo becomes an idyllic sanctuary. Clowns, irony and music drown out the sound of the ongoing missile attacks. This is a tale of chaos and human borders, or alternatively a demonstration of the inconceivable boundlessness of human hope and the will to survive. Life is a carousel.