Saturday July 20, 2002, Khor Virap, Armenia

Armenia's Khor Virap Church

A young Armenian boy holds aloft a dove that he is trying to sell to visitors at Khor Virap Church in Armenia. The doves are used in prayers, either killed or set free to bring the prayer "closer to God." The church, one of the oldest in the world, is in the shadow of Mount Ararat, Armenia's national symbol.

A boy hold a dove in front of a church

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Friday March 18, 2005, Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Israel's Abu Holi checkpoint

A Palestinian taxi driver looks out at an Israeli Army watchtower as he waits to go through Abu Holi checkpoint, which controls all Palestinian traffic between the northern and southern Gaza Strip. The checkpoint, which was set up to protect the cars of cuts Gaza in half, with cars often waiting hours to pass the through.

Palestinian driver at an Israeli checkpoint

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Thursday March 17, 2005, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Mental health in gaza

A patient lies in his bed at the psychiatric hospital in Gaza City. Despite the high rate of illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression that stem from the violence of the second Intifada, serious mental illness is still highly stigmatized in Gaza.

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Tuesday March 15, 2005, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Gaza Strip amusement park

Students from a religious college in Deir el-Balah wait their turn to ride an amusement park ride during a field trip to a park in Gaza City.

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Tuesday March 15, 2005, Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Jabaliya refugee camp

A mute Palestinian girl does her homework on a wall in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Jabaliya, which is home to thousands of Palestinians who either fled or were forced out of their homes in what is now Israel, is one of the most densely populated places in the world.

Palestinian girl writes on a wall with chalk

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Monday March 14, 2005, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Khan Yunis refugee camp

A Palestinian boy climbs up to a destroyed home in the no man's land between the Khan Yunis refugee camp and the Gush Qatif settlement block. Until very recently, this area was much too dangerous for these children to play in, many people having been killed there.

Destroyed Gaza Strip home at sunset

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Monday March 14, 2005, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Khan Yunis refugee camp

Laundry hangs from a destroyed home in the no man's land between the Khan Yunis refugee camp and the Gush Qatif settlement block. Until very recently, this area was very dangerous for civilians, many people having been killed there.

Laundry hangs near a refugee camp

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Monday March 14, 2005, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Khan Yunis refugee camp

Palestinians play volleyball in the no man's land between the Khan Yunis refugee camp and the wall around the Gush Qatif settlement block. Until very recently, this area was much too dangerous for civilians, many people having been killed there.

Palestinian children play volleyball

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Saturday March 12, 2005, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Gaza unemployment rally

Palestinians pray during a rally for the unemployed in front of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza City. Thousands of people gathered to demand unemployment benefits and discounts on heat and hot water from the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian unemployment rally

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Friday March 11, 2005, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Hamas rally

Young girls angle for a better view in the women's section of a Hamas rally in Gaza City. An estimated thousand people attended a Hamas rally in honor of their late spiritual leader Shiekh Yassin, who was assassinated by Israeli security forces nearly a year ago, in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City.

palestinian women at a Hamas rally

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Thursday November 11, 2004, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Response to Yasser Arafatss death

A Palestinian boy stands near some of the many tire fires that were lit all over Gaza City to honor the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Palestinian boy stands near burning tires

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Sunday October 10, 2004, New York, New York, USA

Reem Acra bridal show

A model peeks around a corner while wearing a Reem Acra wedding dress at the Reem Acra Bridal Show on 60th Street in Manhattan.

A woman in wedding dress peaks around a corner

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Wednesday September 1, 2004, New York, New York, USA

Dick Cheney at the 2004 Republican National Convention

American Vice-President Dick Cheney is dwarfed by an image of himself as he waves to the crowd at the Republican National Convention in New York City.

Vice President Dick Cheney at the 2004 Republican National Convention

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Friday August 13, 2004, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestinian Territories

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat hosts wake at the Muqata

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat looks out onto a small crowd in the Muqata. After a relative of Arafat's died in Jordan he recieved guests for a wake in the Muqata, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah where he has been confined since March of 2002.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Wednesday August 11, 2004, Qalandia, West Bank, Palestinian Territories

West Bank checkpoint explosion

A Palestinian woman pleads with an Israeli soldier to be let across the Qalandia checkpoint. An hour earlier a car had exploded while being searched by soldiers at the main checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the explosion. 16 people were wounded, and two were killed.

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Wednesday August 11, 2004, Qalandia, West Bank, Palestinian Territories

West Bank checkpoint explosion

An Israeli soldier gives water to a woman who has collapsed in Qalandia checkpoint. An hour earlier a car had exploded while being searched by soldiers at the main checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the explosion. 16 people were wounded, and two were killed.

Israeli soldier gives water to a Palestinian woman

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Wednesday August 4, 2004, Tulkarm, West Bank, Palestinian Territories

Al-Aqsa Martyers Brigade funeral

Mourners carry the bodies of five members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade through the streets of Tulkarm in the West Bank. The men were five of the six killed the day before in an undercover Israeli operation. While Israeli spokesmen said that all six killed were militants, Palestinian sources say that the sixth man was a university student unconnected to violence.

Mourners carry the bodies of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade militants

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Wednesday August 4, 2004, Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Palestinian casualties

A young Palestinian boy shows off where he had been shot by an Israeli soldier.

Young Palestinian boy

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Wednesday August 4, 2004, Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Palestinian casualties

The mother of seventeen year-old Kassim Motawqi caresses his face after he was killed during clashes with the Israeli Army in Beit Lahiya in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. At least three people, including two children, were wounded in the clashes.

Woman caresses face of her dead Palestinian son

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Wednesday August 4, 2004, Beit Lahiya

Palestinian casualties

Friends carry a Palestinian man into a car after he was wounded in clashes with the Israeli Army in Beit Lahiya in the Northern Gaza Strip.

Wounded Palestinian is carried into car

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Wednesday August 4, 2004, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Popular Resistance Committee rally in Gaza Strip

A Palestinian boy wears the headband of the militant group Hamas, while others carry flags of militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a rally sponsored by the Popular Resistance Committee, a collective of almost all of the Palestinian militant groups. The rally was organized to demonstrate against the Israeli blockade of Beit Hanoun in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian militants at a rally

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Tuesday August 3, 2004, Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Palestinian police officer killed

Family members help the mother of Palestinian police officer Akram Hadidi, 31, after his body was brought into his house in the Rafah refugee camp.

Palestinian woman mourns death of her son

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Friday July 30, 2004, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Palestinian militants funeral

A young boy flashes the victory sign as he marches in front of the bodies of Zeki Abu Zerka and Amr Abu Setta at their funeral. The two men, who were local leaders of the militant group Abu Al-Reash which is connected to Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, were killed on Thursday afternoon in an air attack by the Israeli Army as they were riding in their car in Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians attending a funeral

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Friday July 16, 2004, Al-Bireh, The West Bank, The Palestinian Territories

Wealthy Palestinians

Izz, a young Palestinian boy, looks up at the dancers celebrating his aunt's wedding in a hotel in a wealthy neighborhood in Ramallah.

A young Palestinian boy at a party

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Tuesday August 13, 2002, Jenin Refugee Camp, The West Bank, Palestinian Territories

Jenin refugee camp rubble

A group of Palestinians examine a copy of the Koran that was found in the pocket of a pair of pants belonging to a dead militant. The pants were found as Palestinians begin to dig through the rubble of the Jenin Refugee Camp, much of which was destroyed in April during a series of Israeli Army incursions into the camp that also left a number of residents and Israeli soldiers dead.

Palestinians look at Koran

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Credit: Polaris

Friday March 18, 2005, Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories

Israel's Abu Holi checkpoint

An Israeli watchtower overlooks the road that handles all Palestinian traffic between the northern and southern Gaza Strip at the Abu Holi checkpoint. The checkpoint, which was set up to protect the cars of cuts Gaza in half, with cars often waiting hours to pass the through.

Israeli watchtower at a checkpoint

Credit: Scout Tufankjian / Polaris

Credit: Polaris

Credit: Polaris

Scout Tufankjian