Iranian-German Photographer Asked to Apologize for Saying "Free Palestine"

A documentary photographer who said “Free Palestine” while accepting an award from the German Photographic Society (DGPh) is facing backlash from members who are claiming that her statement was“dogmatic fanaticism” and “anti-Israeli agitation.”  Upon receiving her award, Iranian-German photographer Shirin Abedi made a minute-long statement; “If you are lazy to study history, to understand colonialism, just look at Palestine and the Zionist apartheid state of Israel, committing genocide in Palestine,” said Abedi, who was wearing an original Hirbawi keffiyeh that a friend had given her and a watermelon clip in her hair. “If we don’t discuss, argue, and debate about human rights violations and the society we are building … who else shall do it?” she continued. “We are the ones who tell visual stories and work with representations of communities. This silence is scary.”