MEMO photographer wins prestigious US prize

Pictures of the Year International (POYI) announced yesterday that Palestinian MEMO Photographer Mohammed Asad had won the Award of Excellence for this year.

On its Facebook page, POYI mentioned the names of the winner of the General News competition, naming five winners, including two from the besieged Gaza Strip.

POYI named Mohammed Salem along with Asad, stating that they won the Award of Excellence for their photographs of Palestinian children killed by the Israeli army during the Great March of Return protests.

The winning photograph by MEMO’s photographer was taken of 13-year-old Palestinian Fares Al-Sirsawi while he was being put on a stretcher, bleeding from a wound caused by a live bullet which hit his neck.

For Salem, the picture shows four Palestinian children crying while they were bidding farewell to their brother, who was killed on 15 May during the Gaza protests.

It is worth noting that Israeli army snipers shot Asad on 21 December 2018 in his upper body, but the bullet penetrated the neck of Mohammed Jahjouh and hit Asad’s camera, which absorbed the hit.

READ: Israel forces shoot dead 16-year-old Palestinian in Gaza