Palestinian Artwork on the Wall

While traveling to Jerusalem recently an MPTer asked her taxi driver to stop along the way so she could take a picture of a piece of artwork on the side of a building. The driver complied and stopped not only for that picture but also for pictures of other creative artwork he wanted her to see.

“This land is not for sale.”

Two cows illustrate life for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. The white cow represents Palestine. The houses on its back are small, simple and poor. The expression on this cow’s face is one of struggle as it tugs against the black cow. The black cow represents Israel. The houses on its back are bigger and more elaborate than those of the white cow, and the black cow is laughing.

MPT stands in solidarity with the white cow.

Aida Refugee Camp was established in 1950 between the towns of Bethlehem and Beit Jala. It houses refugees displaced from thirty-five Palestinian villages following the Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967.

As with other camps in the West Bank, Aida faces severe overcrowding. Originally consisting of tents intended as temporary shelter, the camp has evolved into permanent structures of concrete to house the long-term refugee population.

A woman sits with her children outside the locked door to their home. Ugly rolls of razor wire separate them from their home.

Article 31 of the United Nations General Assembly Convention on the Rights of the Child, effective September 2, 1990, addresses the rights of children to leisure, recreation and culture.

“I want my ball back.”

Palestinian people ascend the apartheid wall, seeking freedom. A determined insect knocks down sections of the apartheid wall like falling dominoes.

Palestinian people die needlessly and brutally under Israeli occupation.

A beast pulls a baby carriage filled to overflowing with revoked work permits. Even while drowning in massive unemployment, a Palestinian hand is thrust forward in a gesture of peace. The beast is wearing combat boots and is followed by an armed soldier.

A child sets aside a soldier’s gun and puts him against the wall, searching him to see if he has a bomb. How many times has the child been subjected to such searches on her way to school?

The American dollar supports the soldier.

“Israel, have you become the evil you deplored?”

Palestinian sheep graze on the back of the camel Israel, while their herders struggle up the camel’s legs to reach their sheep.

A checkpoint tower with its wall, wire and rifles is shattered by nonviolence.

Let us hope this applies to the suffering of the Palestinians living under occupation and in exile from their homeland.