Alexandra Avakian: Windows of The Soul
(41 photos)

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  • A Palestinian protester flees as Israeli troops fire shots in his direction. Bethlehem, West Bank. March 1988
  • The Palestinian intifada. &#xD;Nablus, West Bank, March 1988&#xD;<br />
  • PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat flies from Tunis to meet with Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. His plane and pilot were on loan from Saddam Hussein. October 1988
  • Israeli soldiers patrol and a Palestinian man is pushed in a makeshift wheelchair during a daytime curfew. Nablus, West Bank. April 1989
  • Café, Ouzane, Morocco. May 1989.
  • Children mourn Ayatollah Khomeini's death outside his modest home in a North Tehran suburb. Jamaran, Iran. June 1989
  • Islamic and democratic opposition groups who mounted a protest in front of Soviet government buildings face a Red Army roadblock. Dushanbe, Tajikistan. February 1990
  • Black smoke from a factory clouds the sky. Samarqand, Uzbekistan. February 1992
  • A mother holds her son as he hovers between life and death in a refugee camp. More than 350,000 Somalis died between 1991 and the end of 1992, as a result of the famine and related illnesses created by the civil war. Baardheere, Somalia, November 1992
  • A recently deceased child awaits burial alone in an unmarked grave. Baardheere, Somalia. November 1992. .
  • A Somali woman weeps for a young male relative about to be buried, Baardheere, Somalia. November 1992
  • U.S. Marines of the U.N.'s Operation Restore Hope escort the delivery of food aid from CARE to far-flung villages the agency hadn't been able to reach safely for months. Outside Baidoa, Somalia. January 1993
  • Nigerian soldiers of Operation Restore Hope arrested these Somali snipers. Mogadishu, Somalia. February 1993
  • A man sells fish as an Israeli soldier jumps out of his truck to chase Palestinians who had been throwing stones. Gaza City, Gaza, July 1993
  • Israeli settlers burned this Palestinian farm at dawn in response to stone throwing. Near Khan Yunis, Gaza. November 1993
  • Yasser Arafat supporters mill about near a painting of the PLO chairman. Gaza City, Gaza. December 1993
  • Off duty Israeli navy personnel at an Israeli settlement beach in Dogeet, Gaza. June 1994
  • Palestinian police search a Hamas home in the middle of the night. They found only this woman and some warm, empty beds. Jabalyah refugee camp, Gaza, March, 1996.
  • On Khajou Bridge an engaged couple enjoys a chaperoned visit out of site of morality police on the other side of the bridge. Isfahan, Iran March 1998
  • The Imam Mosque was built in the 17th century by Shah Abbas I. Isfahan, Iran. April 1998
  • Naheed and Hussein Saboee collect salt to sell to bakers. Khuzestan Province, Iran, April 1998
  • The blood of a sacrificed lamb streaks a north Tehran street during Ashura, the day of mourning for Imam Hussein, and the peak of the month of Muharram. The blood and self-flagellation with chains are in honor of the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammed. Tehran, Iran. May 1998
  • The Holy Shrine of Hazrat Fatemah Ma'soomeh, sister of Imam Reza, one of the 12 imams of Shiite Islam, is forbidden to non-Muslims. Prayers here are thought to be given special consideration here. Qom, Iran. May 1998.
  • Women of the Mahbouban family weave a rug for export. Heris, Iran. September 1998
  • Khial Ali, 17, is a Kurdish bride. Zarivar Lake, Marivan, Iran. September 1998
  • Unlike most Sufis, who worship without physical penitence, these Kurdish dervishes of the Qadiri order do. Marivan, Iran. September 1998
  • Iranian actress Mozhde Shamsai prepares for a role in her husband Bahram Beyzaie's movie. Kish Island, Iran. November 1998.
  • Women take a break after shopping at the weekly open-air market. Masks in this region are said to be part of local pre-Islamic traditions, although these women are Muslim. Minab, Iran. November 1998
  • Friday prayers at a maximum-security prison where there were about 800 Sunni Muslims in a total of 3200 prisoners. State Correctional Institution at Graterford, Pennsylvania, USA, December 2001
  • Razanne dolls are a Muslim-American alternative to Barbie. Dearborn, Michigan, USA, February 2002
  • Tufaha Baydayn, a Lebanese American, fled Lebanon's civil war in the 1970's. Dearborn, Michigan, USA June 2002
  • Lateef Muhammed, 76 relaxes at the end of the day. His wife Florence, and granddaughter Kelly are reflected in the mirror. They live in a mostly Sunni farming village called New Medinah. Near Sumrall, Mississippi, USA, November 2002
  • Zulayka Martinez coverted to Islam from Catholicism. Here she celebrates a family baptism. Houston, Texas, USA, November, 2002
  • Shiite attend the Iraqi-American Karbala Mosque on Ashura, the mourning day for Imam Hussien. Many of those in attendance supported war in Iraq at that time; they belonged to a group harshly repressed by Saddam Hussein. Dearborn, Michigan, USA, March 2003
  • Janeth Hammid and her children stand in the burned out ruins of their mosque, The Islamic Center of Savannah. It was torched by an arsonist who was never apprehended. Savannah, Georgia. September 2003
  • Former prisoner of the South Lebanon Army, Sikna Bazzi, said she was tortured for supporting Hezbollah. She waits to tell her story on a live television program at the prison, which had become a Hezbollah museum. The noose and chains were part of the set, hung by Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV crew. Khiam Prison, South Lebanon. August 2005
  • Hezbollah camp counselors pray at Camp Duty. Litani River, South Lebanon. August 2005
  • Hezbollah bodyguards at an election rally. Hezbollah is the most powerful political party in the Lebanese government and one of the most formidable and secretive guerilla groups in the world. It provides a vast network of social services to its supporters. Ba'albek, Lebanon. June 2005
  • At an election rally, Hezbollah members, their supporters, and other invitees await a speech by Shiekh Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah. Ba'albek, Lebanon. June 2005
  • On Martyr's Day, Hezbollah's Al Mahdi Scouts vow willingness to be martyred in a ceremony attended by the Deputy Secretary Sheikh Naim Qassem. Guerillas, educators, politicians and others will be culled from these ranks of boys, who belong to highly vetted Hezbollah families. Tyre, Lebanon. November 2005
  • A woman and child visit a grave in the Hezbollah martyrs section of a cemetery on Martyr's Day. The glass boxes hold photos of the dead and some things they held dear: a Koran, prayer beads, bullet casings. Beirut, Lebanon. November 2005

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