My Enemy, Myself

Who's your enemy? Why fight? Over the course of three years, Belgian-Tunisian photojournalist Karim Ben Khelifa has traveled to both sides of the world's longest-simmering conflicts to ask these pointed questions. What he heard from combatants in the Gaza Strip, the disputed Kashmir region along the India-Pakistan border, and tribally divided South Sudan captures the futility of wars that never end -- and can't be won. Tragically, bitter rivals are often fighting for the very same reasons.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY KARIM BEN KHELIFA | JANUARY 2, 2013

GAZA 

"My name is Abu Yasser; I'm 32 years old and I'm a commander in the Al Aqsa Brigade, Jihad al-Amarin branch. My enemy is Israel. I started to fight when I was 15 years old. It was during the first Intifada. It wasn't like today, with weapons; back then, it was about throwing stones. Later I was sentenced to seven years in an Israeli prison. After three and a half years, I was released. Then I started working for the Pal­estinian Authorities, and then I joined the resistance. I met my enemy many times, not just once. There were regular clashes between us and them. Today, all the Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank, inside Israel, and abroad are looking at us because our cause was a lost one. What happened in Gaza shook them up. Who would hate to kill an enemy? An enemy who has killed our kids, our sons. I was born in this country; where would I go? It is forbidden to go here or there. Like now, the Egyp­tians forbid us to cross the border because we are part of the resistance. And Israel? How would I go to there? I'm wanted by them. Palestine will have many other battles, long ones; Israel will keep fighting back, and they will keep trying to destroy us. Until when we will live, we do not know; this is in Allah's hands, not in anyone else's. We are fighting with poor tools, and why do we fight? For our freedom. This is what we are asking, nothing else."

Karim Ben Khelifa

 

Karim Ben Khelifa is a freelance photojournalist, CEO of emphas.is, and a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He tweets as @KBenK. You can see more of his work at instagram.com/karimbenkhelifa.