5×5: Civil Protest
Maya Hed
מחיר קודם: $45
$32
Availability: In Stock
5×5: Civil Protest is scheduled for publication in September 2026 as a special, limited edition and is currently available for pre-order.
This book is a photographic journey into the heart of civil protest in Israel and the Palestinian territories between 2025 and 2026.
Through five photographic series, each composed of five selected images, photographer Maya Hed documents moments of civic resistance, solidarity, the struggle for human rights, and hope for peace amid war, political polarization, and deep social crisis. Hed is not a distant observer; she is present within the events she documents, often directly involved, and at times pays a personal price for her work as a documentary photographer.
The book is published in a trilingual edition—Hebrew, English, and Arabic—and offers an intimate, human, and unfiltered perspective on individuals and groups who have refused to stay silent.
Even in the midst of violence, hope and solidarity can survive and blossom.
— Maya Hed
About the Book
5×5: Civil Protest presents a rare historical commemoration of events, protests, and communities in real time, selected from thousands of photographs across hundreds of locations that Maya has documented since the struggle against a judicial overhaul began.
The book connects five arenas: the Jordan Valley, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Beit Jala, and the Gaza border. From the interplay between these arenas emerges a mosaic of resistance, grief, solidarity, and hope.
The photographs portray Palestinian communities under threat, preserve the memory of children killed in the war, and give expression to joint Jewish–Arab protests, to women uniting against violence and war, and to citizens working to break the silence surrounding the siege on Gaza.
The book is structured around five central projects:
Occupation in Paradise: A Journey Through the Jordan Valley — A journey through the Ras al-‘Auja, Jordan Valley and the daily lives of Palestinian shepherding communities facing violence and displacement.
The Children of Gaza — Silent memorial vigils for children killed in the war.
No to War, No to Starvation — You Will Not Silence Our Voices — Joint demonstration against war and hunger in Gaza.
The Women in White — Israeli and Palestinian women from Israel and Palestinian Territories came together in Beit Jala for a silent sit-in against the war, the occupation, and the ongoing deplorable violence in Gaza.
Breaking the Siege — Protest held near the Gaza border against the ongoing blockade and war.
The book includes three original essays by the photographer, Dagan Wald, and the publishers, offering readers not only images but also the stories, people, and realities behind them.
About the Artist
Maya Hed is an Israeli-American documentary photographer whose work centers on long-term projects exploring human rights, social justice, identity, and communities navigating crisis, as well as everyday life in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Her photographs are created through extended, on-the-ground engagement and sustained relationships with the people she documents. This approach allows her to build intimate visual narratives that function both as personal testimony and as historical record. Her work has been exhibited internationally and has received recognition in leading photography competitions worldwide.
Texts
Struggle as Routine – Maya Hed 8
What is a Social Activist? – Dagan Wald 10
Photography as Resistance – Publishers’ Foreword 16
Photographs
Occupation In Paradise: A Journey Through The Jordan Valley 21
The Children of Gaza 33
No to War, No to Starvation – You Will Not Silence Our Voices 45
The Women in White 56
Breaking the Siege 68Acknowledgments 81
Struggle as Routine \ Maya Hed
As a documentary photographer and visual storyteller based in Tel Aviv, my work is driven by a deep love for Israel and a desire to document the realities unfolding within its disputed borders with honesty, empathy, and respect.
Working primarily with natural light, I photograph individuals whose stories are often overlooked or misrepresented: Israelis and Palestinians who continue to mourn, resist, organize, and stand together in the face of war, occupation, violence, and political division.
I am particularly drawn to brave moments of Jewish-Arab solidarity, where individuals choose human connection over separation and compassion over indifference.
Through long-term documentary projects, I seek to create images that honor the dignity of those I photograph. Rather than focusing solely on conflict itself, I am interested in how people respond to it and live within it: how they preserve hope, care for one another, and continue to fight for justice, equality, and human rights despite immense and seemingly endless challenges.
Alongside the ongoing effort to pursue truth, this work should serve as both a reflection and a testament to my personal experiences in the resistance to the status quo.
My work is rooted in the belief that photography can be both witness and bridge. By documenting acts of resistance, collective grief, and shared humanity, I hope to challenge dehumanization and create space for deeper understanding.
Ultimately, my photographs are an expression of hope: hope for a society that is more just, more equal, and more compassionate than the one we currently inhabit, and hope that recognizing our shared humanity can help shape a better future for everyone who calls this land home.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the book about?
What events are featured in the book?
Is this a political book?
What makes this book unique?
Who is the book for?
Readers interested in documentary photography, human rights, the Middle East, civic activism, peacebuilding, and contemporary historical documentation.
Key Topics
Israeli-Palestinian peace activism
Women-led movements
Documentary photography
Civil society in conflict zones
Human rights
Nonviolent protest
Shared mourning and memory
Grassroots peacebuilding
Gaza war documentation
Jordan Valley communities
Social activism in Israel
Visual storytelling and history
