Visions of freedom in the Middle East and North Africa
- Published
As part of the freedom2014 season, the BBC has invited people from around the world to send pictures showing what freedom looks like. Vidhyaa submitted this picture of birds in flight in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Freedom can sometimes be seen through the eyes of a captive. Ali, in Iran, sent this picture to BBC Persian, saying: "The death penalty is a clear sign of violating freedom that still takes place in Iran."
Freedom in Saudi Arabia also means freedom to photograph, says Engr Artemio T Talon. "The desert offers us the freedom to take a shot of its beauty."
A no-entry sign in Iran. Farnaz told BBC Persian: "Freedom means no-one bans you from going back to your country because of your political opinions."
"Freedom to me looks like the Pearl monument," says Dr Ala'a Shehabi. The pro-democracy activist says she grew up in exile from her home country Bahrain but she felt free when she visited the site in 2011 when there were protests there. The monument has since been demolished.
“In Beirut, freedom means putting an end to terrorism, which has appeared in all forms recently," says Maya Fawaz in Lebanon. Her picture is of the Martyrs' Statue in Martyrs' Square, central Beirut. She says enough innocent people have lost their lives.
Abdel Aziz contacted BBC Arabic to say: "When my freedom was taken away in Alexandria, and the city was turned into a military camp, I went and stood next to a statue of Alexander the Great, who built this city, and felt a moment of bravery and freedom."
A moment of freedom for a young girl in the waves, in Dubai. "Watching the waves, the sea gives you freedom inside," says Raluca Hibbert who took the picture of her daughter.
Traveller Francisco Lopez de Arenosa spent several months travelling in the Middle East, visiting places including Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Territories. In Hebron in the West Bank, he saw how fencing was used to line streets in order to stop objects falling on to pedestrians on lower levels.
Mohammed Al Maskini in Tripoli, Libya, contacted BBC Arabic to say: "For me, freedom is being allowed to hunt in the wild. Yes to hunting, but no to the extinction of animals."
The stories of freedom the BBC has received tend to be quite personal. Nana J in Sanaa, Yemen, told BBC Arabic that freedom was all about choice and felt this image of the removal of a wedding ring best represented this.
Stephen Almond from UK visited Gaza as part of a renal transplant team in December 2013. "It was strange to have to enter a place through such severe security," he says, of the Erez Crossing.
Laura Cooper was on holiday in Morocco when she took this image of her partner Rick atop a sand dune. She says travel to her is what freedom involves.
Iranians gather in 2009 for a demonstration in Azadi Square. Picture by: Babak. Email your images of freedom around the world to freedom@bbc.co.uk
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