Banksy British artist spotlights devastation in Gaza

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British graffiti artist known only as Banksy has helped bring some life to the people of the Gaza Strip who have been living in devastation as a result of Israel’s blockade of international aide to help the more than 100,000 civilians left homeless by Israeli military brutality and terrorist attacks.

By Mohammed Asad

Murals painted by British artist Banksy. Copyright 2015 Mohammed Asad All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint with full attribution to Mohammed Asad and The Arab Daily News

The anonymous British “graffiti” artist known only as “Banksy” secretly entered the Gaza Strip recently to help bring international attention to the suffering of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Banksy painted huge murals on the walls of civilian homes that were destroyed by Israel during its war on civilians last August.

The Israeli assault on Gaza reportedly resulted in the murder by Israeli soldiers of more than 2,200 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians and non-combatants. About 500 killed were teenagers and children including a dozen or more infants.

More than 100,000 Palestinian civilians, including tens of thousands of children, were made homeless by the Israeli assault which was ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to punish Palestinians for their resistance to Israel’s oppressive embargo and repeated military assaults and missile attacks.

Following the Israeli assault and evacuation of Israel’s military forces, several nationals pledged $5.4 billion to help rebuild Gaza’s civilian society and properties but Israel has blocked the movement of money into the Gaza Strip as a continuation of Israel’s terrorism against Palestinian civilians and possibly in the hopes of provoking another conflict.

Making matters worse is that the weather has been brutally cold and many of the civilian refugees of Israel’s terrorism remain homeless and living on the streets or in the remains of their destroyed homes.

A spokesperson for Banksy reportedly told the international news media that the artist did slip into Gaza through a tunnel to paint the murals which are helping to bring international attention to Israel’s brutality and the continued suffering of the civilians.

A Palestinian girl walks in front of a mural of a kitten, said to have been painted by British street artist Banksy, on the remains of a house that was destroyed during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the summer of 2014, in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun. Murals painted by British artist Banksy. Copyright 2015 Mohammed Asad All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint with full attribution to Mohammed Asad and The Arab Daily News

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Mohammed Asad

Mohammed Asad is a photo journalist based in the Gaza Strip. Friend him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mohammed.asad.90.

photographer Mohammed Asad's photo of Dalia Khalifa won an award in March 2015 at a competition organised by the UN.

'Unbreakable' - is the photo of 9yr old Dalia Khalifa, taken at Al-Shifa Hospital on Aug 9th, 2014. Dalia was badly injured in an Israeli air strike during Operation 'Protective Edge'.

'Unbreakable' is the Grand Jury Winner in the photography competition, organised by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Middle East and North Africa (UN OCHA).

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Mohammed Asad's home in Shujaiyya was destroyed by Israeli missiles, mortars and tank fire on Friday August 1, 2014 while he was documenting the Israeli massacre of civilians in the Gaza Strip. He is now living in temporary housing as he scrambles to find Internet access to share his photographs when possible.]