Aisha Mershani

Aisha Mershani (they/them) was born in Las Vegas, Nevada to an American Jewish mother and a Moroccan Muslim father. Mershani holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Redlands in California, and a Master’s and a Ph.D. degree from the UNESCO program in Peace, Development Studies, and Conflict Transformation at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló de la Plana, Spain. 

From 2003-2022 Mershani focused their subject on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Aisha has photographed military checkpoints, popular demonstrations, house demolitions, destroyed villages, and the daily lives of Palestinians living under the violence of the Israeli occupation. Mershani’s photographs have been in multiple publications, as well as many internet news sites over the years to further the awareness of the ongoing situation on the ground in Palestine. Aisha is also one of the artists in the reference book, “Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists”.  

Mershani’s most recent solo show, titled La La Lil Jidar (No No To The Wall) used photography, in combination with first hand testimonies from Palestine, in a multimedia exhibit from 9/2023-2/2024. The work was a direct response to the lack of truthful news on mainstream media around Palestine due to media bias. The exhibit transformed into a collective of artists and activists, known as the La La Lil Jidar Collective. The La La Lil Jidar collective uses art as activism throughout Philadelphia, with the aim for the mainstream public to see how this global fight for Palestine is deeply integral and tied to the local fights in our US cities.