Header photo is a male Palestine sunbird (Cinnyris osea) the national bird of Palestine, photographed in Gaza by the Sirdah sisters.

Every spring and autumn, millions of birds fly over Palestine, an important stopover for hundreds of migratory species traveling between their wintering grounds in Africa and their breeding sites in Europe and Asia. The region is one of the world?s busiest flyways.

The birds soar over Palestinians living in ?the world?s largest open-air prison? in Gaza ? besieged for decades and now subjected to genocide ? and over Palestinians living under occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. But Israel?s increasingly brutal system of oppression hasn?t stopped Palestinians from raising their heads high to admire the birds filling the sky.

In Gaza, birders Lara and Mandy Sirdah have continued to watch and photograph birds, even during the genocide. Forced to leave their homes in northern Gaza in November 2023 after Israeli expulsion orders, the twin sisters have continued publishing photos of the birds they found in displacement.

You can purchase Mandy and Lara's prints through the Birders of Palestine print project. All proceeds from these shirts, and the prints and postcards, will help birders and their families as they try to survive genocide and ethnic cleansing, and encourage their love for birding.