“If I must die/Let it bring hope.” The annual march in remembrance of the victims of Bloody Sunday, 1972, was this year dedicated to the victims of the on-going attack by Israel on the Gaza Strip (Irish News). For the occasion, Free Derry Corner was papered over (by Adam “Spicebag” Doyle – RN | Irish Times) with words from a poem (Xitter) of Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer, who was killed by Israeli forces on December 7th (Al Jazeera | WP).
In January 2024, in response to the prolonged Israeli attack on Gaza, many murals on the “International Wall” on Divis Street were painted out and work began on reproductions of artworks by artists from Palestine and elsewhere in the region. The project was called Painting For Palestine and a Facebook page and GoFundMe page were launched.
According to Bill Rolston (Fb) (who can be seen in the second image, below), there was a plan last Autumn that Palestinian artists would create their own “international wall” and include murals designed by CNR artists. The Hamas attack on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli invasion on Gaza – now ongoing for 108 days – put paid to that project, and instead art by Palestinian painters is being painted in Belfast in support of Palestine. (Here is an NVTv segment on the project.)
The first (left-most) panel will reproduce a mural called ‘The Land Is Ours’ by Mohammed Alhaj, Abdullah Al Najar, Rami Al Safadi, and Abdel Hamid Fares that once stood in a Gaza school; the second, next to the first, is currently blank (see the image above).
Bill Rolston working on The Land Is Ours:
The source image for The Land Is Ours:
The grid and cartoon for a mural from digital artist Saïd Hassan (web):
Another image by digital artist Saïd Hassan, showing soldiers standing over dead children:
Marty Lyons at work on the mural:
A wide shot with the left-hand side of the wall in the foreground:
Four murals are being painted over what were previously Lenár Linn and Hunger Strikers (1916). The originals for these were designed by Ahmad Shaweesh (ig), Raed Qatanani (ig), ? [please get in touch], and Saïd Hassan (web).
Shaweesh’s piece is a deliberately unfinished image of a group of people, perhaps a family, in distress.
Qatanani’s image is a portrait of Soso and Omar Ashour as they sat in a Gaza hospital during the first week of the Israeli invasion.
The original artist of this figure with a phoenix is unknown.
The last of these four murals is by Hassan and shows a woman cooking over an open fire in front of a tent in a refugee camp.
January 17th:
January 20th:
Wide shot of the four pieces on the right-hand side:
A fine of 500 pounds and eternal damnation. Belfast City Council first made various Belfast street “alcohol-free” areas in 2007. A full list of streets can be found in this 2012 pdf. The placard shown in the image above is on the Falls Road, outside the Royal. The grounds of the hospital are also included in the list of areas. About 50 people a year receive a summons (2016 minutes). How many of us, annually, are refused entry at the pearly gates is unknown.
“Saoırse don Phalaıstín [freedom for Palestine]/فلسطين حرة [free Palestine]” and “Ireland stands with Palestine/ايرلندا تقف مع فلسطين” – CYM [Connolly Youth Movement (web)] sticker with a mash-up of the Palestinian and Irish flags and a key that represents the keys that about 700,000 Palestinian householders took with them when they fled their homes in the Nakba of 1948.
Going by the streets and places mentioned in these plaques – see the list below – “old Ardoyne” would not have included Balholm Drive, where this gable wall is; Brompton Park and the streets above it – built c. 1935 are renamed c. 1939 (after a 1937 rent strike) – were known as Glenard. (See also Belfast Forum one | two.)
According to an entry on Belfast Forum, Skinny Lizzy’s real name was Elizabeth Gilmore. According to another, Greast Nellie’s chip shop and the Crumlin Star was opposite one another.
left side: Crumlin Star, Peter Toal’s hard wear shop, Beltax [Beltex] mill, Cassidy’s shop, Holy Cross Boys school
top row: Chatham Street Skinny Lizzy shop, Elmfield Street Reid’s shop, Brookfield Street McCafferty shop, Flax Street Greasy Nelly’s, Granny Byer’s shop
second: Oakfield Street, Kerrera Street Skillen’s shop, Hocker Street Rock’s shop, Butler Street Tom’s shop, Top Of The Pad, Dan The Man’s Rockiet[?]
third: The Millie Dam, Crumlin Street Billy O’Hara’s, Herbert Street Davidson’s shop, Fairfield Street Black’s shop, Paddy’s barber shop, McNab’s Chippy, Raynardo’s chippy
fourth: The GAA Tin Hut, The Gap Andy’s shop, Hole In The Knickers, The Unity Club
fifth: Rose Bank mill, Flax Street mill, Toby’s Hall, The Hibbs [Hibs] Club [in Herbert St], Bloody Mary’s Arch
sixth: Brookfield mill, The League AWMC [Ardoyne Working Men’s Club (Fb)], Roy Kane’s shop
The Easter lily and the red star mark this graffiti-art-style slogan in Durrow Park, Derry, as republican-socialist; RSYM = Republican Socialist Youth Movement (Fb), IRSP = Irish Republican Socialist Party (web), AFA = Anti-Fascist Action (Fb)). There is a small “Victory to Hamas” graffito to the right.
For the large Arm Saoırse Náısıúnta Na hÉıreann (INLA) board, see Serious Trouble.
Israeli bombing of Gaza resumed on Friday, with bombing of southern Gaza and a demand that civilians move even further south, to the border city of Rafah (Al Jazeera). This graffiti and a simple painting of the Palestinian flag are in the Elmfield area of Glengormley, Newtownabbey.
The “put/give it back, thief” imagery that we saw used for the Lough Neagh protest (and much earlier in republican murals) is used on an “Israel, get out of Palestine” sticker on the bollard now outside Cultúrlann McAdam-O’Fiaich that originally came from McAdam’s Soho foundry in Townsend Street. (A sticker in worse condition was also seen in Israel Get Out Of Palestine.)
“Caıth bomaıte ar son na Palaıstíne. Seol ríomhphost chuıg gach ceannaıre polaıtiúıl sa tír. – Caırde Palestine.” [Spend a moment on Palestine’s behalf. Send an e-mail to every political leader in the land. – Friends of Palestine]
“Dorn san aer do na Gaeıl [a fist in the air for the Irish] Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí 1970-2023”.
Mac Aodha Bhuí joined Ráıdió Na Gaeltachta in the 1990s but was best known for his Rónán Beo@3 programme (which is inscribed on the ring on the first), which began in 2006. He was a passionate advocate for the Irish language. He died this past September after a four-year battle with cancer. (RTÉ | Irish Times | Donegal Daily)
The official launch of the mural will be at 2 p.m. on Friday (December 1st).
Fallswater Street, west Belfast
Update: by the time of the launch a photograph of Mac Aodha Bhuí was added.
Extramural Activity 