Rebecca Harrison’s Pilgrimage To Bethlehem’s West Banksy
“BETHLEHEM residents vandalise Banksy graffiti,” says the Guardian.
Or to put it another way, Bethlehem residents paint over graffiti depicting them as dumb animals.
Writes the paper’s Rebecca Harrison “in Bethlehem”: “Bethlehem residents have painted over a satirical mural by the graffiti artist Banksy that was meant to highlight their plight.
The elusive British artist had painted six images around the town to help drum up tourism before Christmas and to illustrate the hardships faced by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.”
Good old, Banksy. Without him what hope Bethlehem of getting any tourists to rock up for Christmas. Many are the nun, shiny eyed evangelist and coachload of tourists who have arrived at the site and wondered that it could only benefit from a bit of graffiti.
The now erased picture was of an Israeli solder checking a donkey’s papers. Bethlehem is a site protected by the Israelis keen to stop Islamists from blowing it to smithereens. Banksy finds this worthy of his satire.
So too does Harrison: “But the irony behind the depiction of an Israeli soldier checking a donkey’s identity papers was lost on some residents, who found it offensive.”
“We’re humans here, not donkeys,” says local Nasri Canavati. “This is insulting. I’m glad it was painted over.”
Says Harrison: “To be called a donkey in Palestinian society is similar to being called an idiot.”
Or a hack…
Posted: 21st, December 2007 | In: Broadsheets Comments (7) | TrackBack | Permalink
