To Whom It May Concern: Photos From the Haaretz Archive

The exhibition will take place at the Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery, 31 Mercer St. New York City from December 12, 2015 to January 30, 2016. The gallery is closed from December 24, 2015 to January 3, 2016.

Haaretz has always considered a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict key to ensuring the future of Israel, and believed that a political accord is the only solution. It has stuck to this position throughout the years, convinced that as long as the conflict remains unresolved and Israel’s control of millions of Palestinians continues, it will be impossible to uphold a true democracy here and the goal of Zionism will be thwarted. It will also be hard to heal the rifts within Israeli society or deal with other burning issues, such as those involving religion and state, social and economic gaps, corruption and civic equality. Haaretz views with concern the distancing of Israeli society from democratic values, and turns a critical and admonishing eye upon this situation and its implications. It does this daily in words and pictures.

Haaretz’s digital photographic archive contains more than a million images from the past two decades. Historically, until the 1990s Haaretz made relatively little use of photographs, and primarily availed itself of the services of photographic agencies and government publicity offices. The shift began in the 1990s, when the paper began using the services of freelance photographers. And since 1995 – parallel to the cataclysmic event of the Rabin assassination – Haaretz has increasingly used photographs, including many that are unique to the paper. It has also employed a small group of outstanding photographers, some of whom have made names for themselves in the world of photojournalism, as well as the artistic one.

In many ways, the Rabin assassination can be considered the “Big Bang,” after which, in a crucial matter for its survival, Israel went down a path that is leading to isolation, escalation and extremism. This development is cause for growing concern, as is keenly reflected in the photographs here. These photographs of the conflict present a harsh portrait of suffering and oppression, cycles of violence and hatred, death and destruction, and convey a sense of direness that cries out for remedy and peace.

Efrat Livny, Curator

About the Gallery

Ronald Feldman Fine Arts was founded in November 1971 at 33 East 74th Street by Ronald and Frayda Feldman. In 1982, after one season with both uptown and downtown exhibition spaces, the gallery consolidated at 31 Mercer Street in SoHo. The gallery exhibits contemporary painting, sculpture, installations, drawings, prints, photography, new media and performances.

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2012 | Near Damascus Gate, Jerusalem Police clash with protesters during Palestinians’ Land Day events. Land Day marks Israel's 1976 decision to seize swaths of land for security & settlement purposesCredit: Olivier Fitoussi

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2002 | Jenin, Palestinians walk by the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israel Defense Forces attack when the second intifada was at its peak.Credit: Pavel Wohlberg

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2004 | Mitzpeh Yitzhar Outpost, near Nablus. Police clash with settlers during the evacuation of buildings.Credit: David Bachar

To Whom It May Concern: December 12, NYC