For the launch of the murals painted in the Painting For Palestine project (Fb) a red ribbon with the words from Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer’s poem “If I Must Die” was added to the ten consecutive panels below the ‘republican museum’ panel.
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze —
and bade no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself —
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale
Alareer’s poem was also used on Free Derry Corner; see If I Must Die.
This entry presents images of the ten murals to which the red ribbon was added. For images from the launch, see Looking Heaven In The Eye. For the murals prior to the red ribbon, with in-progress shots, see Man Holding Child – A Window To A Free Country – Soldiers Standing Over Children – Three Children – Flying Children/Prisoners – Bethlehem Fireworks – Family Group – Soso And Omar Ashour – Phoenix – Cooking In Front Of A Tent
For images from the launch, see Looking Heaven In The Eye.
Painting of the red ribbon began on February 29th:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Extramural Activity 
Thank you for sharing. It was nice to read this
So poignant. Thank you to the artists. Prof Refaat Al Areer should never be forgotten nor the cause he articulated for so well and died because his words were a threat – apparently.