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

KASHMIR 

"My name is Moussa; I am 13 years old. My enemy is India. I started stone-pelting four years ago because I want to free my land from oppression. I met face to face with my enemies, but I haven't killed any of them. The outcome of our struggle will be freedom. I wish from life to live in an independent Kashmir. I think, in the next 20 years, we will be free. Everything will be fine here once we get the freedom we are asking for."

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.