London ( CNN ) -- After generations of conflict , the clamor of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute has the tendency to drown out other voices and stories from the region . The work of multimedia artist Dor Guez -- whose identity as a Palestinian Christian living in Israel makes him `` a minority within a minority '' -- aims to rectify this . Through the use of video , historical photographs and documents , the Jaffa-based Guez tells the narrative of a marginalized community . `` It 's not about supporting one cause or another , '' he says . `` It 's about having this voice heard among other voices . '' Guez , whose first solo show in the U.K. , `` 40 Days , '' opens in London 's Mosaic Rooms gallery on April 12 , focuses on depicting the experiences of the Middle East 's Palestinian Christian minorities , including his own family . While his father is of Jewish-Tunisian descent , Guez 's mother is a Christian Palestinian , her family hailing from Lod , known in Arabic as al-Lyddan , ancient city 15 kilometers ( 9 miles ) southeast of Tel Aviv . The city is home to the Church of St. George , a major shrine to the 4th-century Christian martyr . `` The cemetery is where my grandfather is buried , my great-grandfather , for many generations back , '' Guez says . `` It can be under Israeli , Turkish , British regime ; we have zero control over it , being a weak and small minority -- weak in numbers , not in education . But we have a connection to the place itself . '' Read more : A great year for Middle East cinema . When the territory was claimed by the newly declared state of Israel in 1948 , the Arabs were expelled , with only about 1,050 remaining . Some of Guez 's family resettled in London , Oman and Cairo , but others remained , finding themselves in an `` extremely complicated and difficult '' situation , he says . `` We have pressure from both groups -- the Muslim Palestinians and the Israelis -- to identify with their goals , '' he says . `` I think that in the case of the Christian Palestinians , we really got stuck in between sometimes . '' Guez says the community had to negotiate their identity against two majority groups -- Israeli Jews and Muslim Arabs -- displaying a dual attitude towards both groups to protect their identity . On the one hand , he says , they demonstrated their will to integrate , but they also had a clear desire to maintain a distinct cultural identity . `` Both Jewish society and Muslim society fail to understand the versatility of the Christian minority , as well as its religious , social and cultural needs , '' he says . Today , the majority of Palestinian Christians live outside Israel and the Palestinian territories . According to Israel 's Ministry of Foreign Affairs , there are about 120,000 Christian Arabs in Israel . Guez 's art draws heavily on the Christian Palestinian Archive , an electronic database he started that catalogs photographs , passports , birth certificates and other documents from the community 's history . It started out as a family archive but quickly snowballed to include members of the Palestinian Christian diaspora throughout the world , he says . `` I started thinking , 'Why do n't we as a community have our own archive , when almost every culture around the world has one ? ' `` he says . `` Obviously , it 's because of political reasons . A lot of Christians around the Middle East do n't want to build an archive because it will be interpreted as a political act of separation . '' Read more : Oman 's love for the arts . Omar Al-Qattan , secretary of the board of trustees behind the Mosaic Rooms , said Guez 's personal background informed his work . `` He is the product of two conflicting realities -- the creation of the state of Israel which made it possible for his father 's Jewish Tunisian family to immigrate to Israel and the dispossession of his mother 's family , '' he says . Guez 's focus on the fate of the region 's minorities was particularly poignant `` in a time of great sectarian tension -- in Egypt , Syria , Iraq and quite possibly elsewhere , '' Al-Qattan says . Guez says his work had provoked strong reactions in Israel . `` Some of them are very supportive , but a lot of them are like , 'You 're a traitor -- why should a museum in Israel show the narrative of Palestinians ? ' `` he says . `` I think that 's a part of the dialogue with audience . I would have been surprised if it was received quietly -- not that I think of what I do as something provocative . I do n't . '' Rather , he says , his work is about asking `` what is nationality '' and `` creating a community through individual voices . '' `` I think that what unifies people is a will , '' he says , adding that there are `` many different voices within what we call Palestine . I think that 's something that 's very important to remember . ''
Dor Guez is an activist who has dedicated himself to telling the story of Palestinian Christian communities . He has launched a Christian Palestinian community which he relies on heavily for his work . He says the community negotiates its differences against Jewish Israelis and Muslim Palestinians .