In 2004 Hondors completed an assignment exploring the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This conflict is an ongoing dispute between the State of Iserael and the State of Palestine over various territory disputes concerning the region of Palestine. The dispute is religiously motivated, as the region of Palestine is considered sacred the both Jewish and Muslim people. Iserael is run by Jewish Authorities, whereas Palestine is controlled by Muslim Authorities. The consequence has resulted in a in a series of small-scale guerilla warfare over the course of 20 years, still ongoing today.

This image by Hondros shows an eleven-year-old Palestinian boy called Abdallah looking through a hole from a window which was left by the Israeli sniper bullet that killed his mother. This image is a very harrowing and sensitive image which explores the devastating consequences that the conflict has had on the civilians involved. Abdallah’s mother was caught in the crossfire of a guerilla battle between Israeli and Palestini insurgents. This image is to an extent subjective because it highlights Hondros’ sympathetic viewpoint towards the Palestinian people. The image uses symbolism to portray an account of the helplessness experienced by the civilians caught in the dispute.

The broken glass that Abdallah is looking through symbolises  how the Palestine region has been broken by the conflict. Abdallah, representative of the young generation of those in the region, is portrayed through the symbolisation of looking through the broken glass as vulnerable and fragile, faced with the prospect of a homeland which is dangerous, broken and tragic. The distorted viewpoint created through the glass symbolises the complexity of the conflict, juxtaposed with the sombre mood expressed by Aballah’s reflective stare, which clarifies the simpleness of the fact that tragedy still occurs, making the complexity of the tragedy inexcusable to cost innocent lives.

This is a very emotional and hard-hitting image. Hondros has captured a moment which distances its focus away from the war, forcing the viewer to consider from the heartbreaking perspective of a young boy loosing his mother as a direct consequence of violence. By viewing the war in the a manner which conveys a young boy’s personal tragedy, there is a suggestion that Hondros is criticising the Israeli and Palestinian’s government’s failure to peacefully settle the conflict, due to the devastating cost that such a conflict impacts on both sides.