H2

Nurit Sharett visited the city of Hebron over the course of a year, teaching video art to a group of young Palestinian women. Over time the artist established firm relationships with three of her students and their families. The video documents everyday life in that microcosm, dissimilar to any other city.

Subsequent to the signing of the Hebron Agreement in 1997, the Israel Defence Forces withdrew from about eighty percent of Hebron, and the city was split into sectors: H1, governed by the Palestinian authority, and sector H2, an Israeli-governed enclave with 600 Israeli soldiers and some 600 Jewish residents, as well as over 30,000 Palestinians residents. The traffic between the two sectors of the city is constant, a part of the residents routine, while driving a vehicle in H2 is permitted only to Jews and foreigners. The right to drive, among other privileges the Jewish residents are granted, distinguishes the character of the pedestrian city. In this video, Sharett shows us the families and homes she visits, a wedding she was invited to, and of course – the outside views: the landscape, soldiers, the wire and walls. In H2 Sharett tells us her story of Hebron.