Photograph of the Year, From Israel's 2007 "Local Testimony" Exhibit – Natan Dvir

“Na’im El’iam (36), a Palestinian resident of the Jabalyah Refugee Camp in Gaza, holds the body of his three-month-old son Muhammad. The body is wrapped in blue cloth. On orders of the security forces, Na’im is standing in the parking lot near Erez Checkpoint, which is closed to traffic due to violent confrontations between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza. Na’im El’iam was trying to get home in order to bury his son, who died of a congenital heart defect in Israel’s Tel Hashomer Hospital, after doctors tried to save his life. The Palestinian father arrived at Erez Checkpoint, the main border crossing between Israel and Gaza, just as it was getting dark - a few minutes after a shooting incident between Hamas fighters and Fatah members who were hiding inside the checkpoint. After waiting for the shooting to end and then for his documents and permits to be checked, Na’im El’iam was permitted to cross the checkpoint to the Palestinian side with his son’s body.”

Natan Dvir is a brilliant Israeli photojournalist. His work appears alongside other Israeli artists at the Local Testimony Exhibition, and a gallery provides a glimpse of their work here.

I first encountered Dvir's work via Lisa Goldman, a fine Israeli-Canadian journalist currently under investigation, with two other journalists, under Israel's antique and illogical Prevention of Infiltration law.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 65 journalists and 20 other media workers were killed in direct relation to their work in 2007, the highest death toll in more than a decade.