“If I die, I want a loud death,” Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna wrote on social media. “I don’t want to be just breaking news, or a number in a group, I want a death that the world will hear, an impact that will remain through time, and a timeless image that cannot be buried by time or place.”
On 16 April, just days before her wedding, 25-year-old Hassouna was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit her home in northern Gaza.
Ten members of her family, including her pregnant sister, were also killed.
A day before Hassouna was killed, it was announced that a documentary focusing on her life in Gaza since the Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began would be debuted at a French independent film festival.
Made by the Iranian director Sepideh Farsi, the film, “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk”, tells the story of Gaza’s ordeal and the daily life of Palestinians through filmed video conversations between Hassouna and the filmmaker.
“Hassouna became my eyes in Gaza … fiery and full of life. I filmed her laughs, her tears, her hopes and her depression,” Farsi told Deadline. “I had talked to her a few hours before to tell her that the film was in Cannes and to invite her.”
“Fatima Hassouna was a gifted artist, photographer, and journalist — a brave voice from Gaza known for her powerful images and storytelling. Today, Israel killed Fatima and ten of her family members, silencing a lens that showed the world Gaza’s truth,” read a post by Gaza notifications.
“Her crime was to chronicle the genocide through powerful articles and photos. What a genocidal regime cannot allow.
Those, particularly journalists, who continue to remain silent, should be ashamed,” said Francesca P. Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
