Extramural Activity

The launch event for the Painting For Palestine project (Fb) took place on March 3rd. A large paper Palestinian flag (with the cartoon character of resistance Handala (WP) on it) was used as a cover over the mural of three children – Irish, Palestinian, and South African – and unveiled by local children who had worked on the piece.

More images of the launch can be found in the Paddy Duffy collection.

For the ten pieces linked by Alareer’s poem on a red ribbon, see Tell My Story.

For the twelve pieces without the red ribbon, see The Land Is Ours – Khan Younis Mass Grave … 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.

The ‘Painting For Palestine’ booklet is included last below.

The principal artists: DD, MD, ML

Bill Rolston, one of the organisers:

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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.

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.

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Painting of the red ribbon began on February 29th:

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The Palestinian West Bank is surrounded by, and in some places penetrated by, a system of barriers 440 miles long. In some places it takes the form of multiple fences, in others, of a concrete wall reaching to a height of 30 feet/9 metres. (Here is WP’s map of the wall in the vicinity of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, also showing the Israeli settlements in this part of the West Bank).

In this mural, a Palestinian stands on top of the wall and looks towards (Christian) Church Of The Holy Sepulchre and the (Islamic) Dome Of The Rock in old Jerusalem and imagines themselves a phoenix, a symbol representing rebirth and persistence, well known from (Irish) republican muraling (Peter Moloney Collection | Extramural collection).

The mural is on the International Wall, west Belfast, part of the Painting For Palestine project (Fb). The original artist is unknown.

The West Bank barrier is locally known as the “separation” or “apartheid” wall. For west Belfast’s own euphemistically-called “peace” wall, see State Art Vs Graffiti On The West Belfast “Peace” Line.

The next mural (to the right) can be seen in Worsening Crisis In Gaza.

The image above was taken on February 25th. Other “in-progress” images are as dated below.

February 22nd:

January 28th:

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The first (left-most) mural of the Painting For Palestine project (Fb) reproduces a piece that once stood in a Gaza school, called The Land Is Ours, by Mohammed Alhaj, Abdullah Al Najar, Rami Al Safadi, and Abdel Hamid Fares. It shows a human figure holding a Palestinian flag that wraps around an olive tree and the Dome Of The Rock temple in Jerusalem.

The next mural in the PforP project can be seen in Another Martyr In The Earth.

January 20th:

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