The former Israeli police station

Some of the first things I witnessed take place after the Palestinians entered the Police station were scenes like this. All traces of the former caretakers - in this case a sticker on the door in Hebrew - were systematically being removed. The two guys here seemed to find it funny. It reminded me of those plate smashing stalls at the fair. When I started to photograph them they started giggling like two kids and asked me to make sure I got a good photo.

The former Israeli prison

Left and Below: The evening of the redeployment saw Palestinians visiting the former prison in Ramallah. Families and their kids turned out in force to the latest attraction. It was an incredible atmosphere, almost surreal, and people were milling around inside pretty aimlessly, simply because they could.

Sign-a-ra

I spotted the sign (cf. the photo on the left) and figured it wouldn't be too long before they did (photo on the right). After years of living with a foreign authority in control of your hometown, with its soldiers speaking bad Arabic or Hebrew at you on the streets and detaining and beating people in this very prison, I am sure it felt good to remove these symbols. Especially I imagine, for those who had been detained here in the tents section of the compound, 50 yards opposite to this sign. Of course, after bashing away for a while at the plastic sheet, the two policemen discovered that it slid out, but - hey - that wasn't the point!

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