Saudi Gazette

 

Banksy never ceases to amaze the world. The work of the world famous yet mysterious British graffiti artist made an appearance in the Gaza Strip.  Banksy posted a less than two minute mock tourism film on his website documenting the real conditions of Gaza in a satirical clip.

 

The artist, whose chooses to remain anonymous, released an online video entitled “Make this the year YOU discover a new destination”, that shows him  travelling to Gaza by commercial flight and then through smuggling tunnels, through an underground tunnel from Egypt. “The locals like it so much they never leave (Because they’re not allowed too),” the video said. “Development opportunities are everywhere” and there is “plenty of scope for refurbishment”, the subtitles said 18,000 homes were destroyed in the fighting while depicting bombing in Gaza. The video also stated that no cement has been allowed into Gaza since the summer war to enable rebuilding homes.

 

Banksy is known for his work depicting social, political and satirical messages. The three works include children on swings hanging by a a guard tower, a kitten and a sad Greek goddess cowering against a remaining concrete slab of a destroyed structure. 

 

On his website, the artist captioned the kitten photo, saying, “A local man came up and said ‘Please -- what does this mean?’ I explained I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website- but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens.”

 

This is not the first time Banksy used street art to criticize Israel. His work on West Bank includes the silhouette of a girl being carried into the air by the bunch of balloons she is holding in her hand.

 

The video ends with the following message on a wall in Gaza: “If we wash our hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless we side with the powerful - we don’t remain neutral.”