Here is a completed mural from the Painting For Palestine project (Fb) on the International Wall, Divis Street, Belfast, showing a man holding an injured child against a backdrop of razed buildings in Gaza. It is now 125 days since Israel began its war on Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks on October 7th and images of parents carrying their dead and injured children, and of the devastation of Gaza’s buildings, are now all too common – here is an Al Jazeera gallery from December.
This entry chronicles (in reverse order/from latest to earliest) the painting of one of Saïd Hassan’s (ig) contributions to the Painting For Palestine (Fb) project that is currently transforming the International Wall on Divis Street in west Belfast. The piece appears to be inspired by the mass grave in Khan Younis (in the Gaza Strip) in which more than 100 corpses were buried in November (Al Jazeera video | Reuters gallery).
Hassan’s instagram post of his original artwork cites a few lines from Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani (WP): “Let’s plant them as our martyrs in the womb of this soil thickened with bleeding … there is always room in the ground for another martyr.”
Two men were given life sentences on Thursday for the murder of Ian Ogle in 2019, pleading guilty but on the basis of intent to cause serious harm rather than to kill. The trial of three others on a murder charge will begin on Tuesday (iTV | BBC).
Sale has been agreed on the Shankill Gospel Hall (according to PropertyPal though not agents Frazer Kidd). High on the to-do list of the new owners will be removing the false gods in the apex on the Shankill Parade side.
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:
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.” (Revelations 21:4)
In addition to the image of a tear being wiped away there is a burning heart with the words “In the name of love” and panels reading “faith”, “hope”, and “forgiveness”. And also “Team Syracuse, NY, USA 2004”.
Across the street from St Andrew’s church in Forthriver (on the right of the widest image).
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.
Dundela “ultras” have been told they are not welcome at the team’s future games after “unsavoury chanting” at the NI Championship match against local rivals H&W Welders – “the most cataclysmic derby match in world football” (BelTel).
Thirteen more soccer-related stickers are below, including [Glasgow] Rangers Action Force.
“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.
TUV (Traditional Unionist Voice) has put up placards attacking the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) – including outside the office of DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson – in response to the possibility that the DUP might re-enter Stormont – which has been defunct now for two years – and implement the NI Protocol (BBC | BelTel).
It hasn’t happened yet, but a combination of public dissatisfaction concerning inaction over strikes by transport workers on December 22 and a general strike planned for January 18 (ITv)) and a financial package for pay awards are keeping the pressure on (Shropshire Star).
Extramural Activity 