Culture, Global, Israel

Santa's Ghetto in Bethlehem

Banksy Wall Art
Banksy, my personal favorite graffiti artist (sorry, Mobius), is holding his annual “Santa’s Ghetto” show (“a loose collection of the great unwashed hawking their artistic wares”) in Bethlehem this year, across the street from the Church of the Nativity. From the show’s site:

Bethlehem is one of the most contentious places on earth.
Perched at the edge of the Judaen desert at the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa in the state of Palestine it was governed by the British following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. After World War II the United Nations voted to partition the region into two states – one Jewish, one Arab and there’s been fighting ever since.
It’s obviously not the job of a loose collection of idiot doodlers to tell you what’s right or wrong about this situation, so you’re advised to do further reading yourself (this month’s National Geographic has an excellent article all about Bethlehem).
We would like to make it very clear Santa’s Ghetto is not allied to ANY race, creed, religion, political organization or lobby group. As an organisation the only thing we’ll say on behalf of our artists is that we don’t speak on behalf of our artists. This show simply offers the ink-stained hand of friendship to ordinary people in an extraordinary situation.
Every shekel made in the store will be used on local projects for children and young people. Not one cent will go to any political groups, governmental institutions or, in fact, any grown-ups at all.

Who wants to go?

7 thoughts on “Santa's Ghetto in Bethlehem

  1. So according to a friend of mine who plays Counterstrike (I’m glad to say I don’t know what he’s even talking about) the gun is an AK-47, therefore “the soldier” is not specifically an Israeli soldier and “the girl” is not specifically a Palestinian girl. I hope people can get beyond the specifics of its location and see through to the concept he’s getting at. You can’t see it and not think about it…

  2. am I the only one who’s tired of Banksy?
    he always puts up this “what, me partisan? oh no I’m just an objective artist observer” front when it’s total BS.
    “state of Palestine” OK. and the website features a Christmas tree in the shadow of the dark, looming separation barrier.
    as if the message (and Banksy’s hipocrisy) weren’t enough, he claims that “Santa’s Ghetto is not allied to ANY race, creed, religion, political organization or lobby group”…but that “every shekel made in the store will be used on local projects,” i.e. — presumably — Palestinian causes.
    “It’s obviously not the job of a loose collection of idiot doodlers to tell you what’s right or wrong about this situation” says the idiot doodler before proceeding to tell us exactly what’s right or wrong about this situation.
    dude’s whole schtick is tired.
    and Trumpet: if Banksy is your favorite graffiti artist (and if Mobius even registers on your list), I imagine you know very little about graffiti.

  3. and I don’t play strike force, but I know an M16 when I see one.
    and that’s an M16 (look at the website for a better pic of that painting).
    so yeah, that’s an Israeli soldier. which is obviously the point of the painting (why is there even an argument surrounding this minor point again?)

  4. Despite the likelihood that my views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are radically different than Banksy’s, the graffiti is funny.
    I like his sense of humor– although his actual “insights” as a social critic probably have far greater validity when he’s lampooning society and government in the UK– so he can only see the Middle East through the window provided by the UK press.

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