Interview Khaled Jarrar: Stamping Palestine into passports

Khaled Jarrar is a Palestinian artist and photographer from Jenin, based in Ramallah.  In addition to photographing and documenting the Israeli occupation, he has designed a ‘State of Palestine’  postage and passport stamp. 

In an interview with Alistair George of International Solidarity Movement, Jarrar  explains the idea behind his stamp, past and future plans, and the extent to which art influences political resistance.

ISM: What’s the idea behind the ‘State of Palestine’ passport stamp?

Jarrar: I had my idea three years ago.  I was with my international friends and they told me about the hard time they get at Ben Gurion airport [in Tel Aviv] when they want to visit Palestine, and especially if they tell the border police that they are going to the Palestinian territories.  So I was thinking – how come the Israelis decide who is welcome in our country?  We would like to welcome everybody!  So I said that I would make a ‘Green Card’ for my friends; a kind of ironic permit which says they can live and work in Palestine.  It sends the message that we have the right to say ‘you are welcome to Palestine’.  People came to a gallery in Ramallah where they filled in the ‘applications’ and got a ‘permanent resident card!  They took it as a souvenir.

(That) was the first stamp.  I started going and doing the performance [stamping passports] at Ramallah bus station and Qalandia checkpoint.