Behold the Mayhem of My People
Note: This poster won first prize in the The Second International Biennial of Posters of The Islamic World (2007) in the "Palestine" theme/category
The poster's caption:
"Behold the Mayhem of My People
Twice
as
tall
as
the
Berlin
Wall;
its
projected
span
is
500
miles,
more
than
double
the
length
of
the
Green
Line.
The
wall
yet
annexes
more
than
47%
of
the
West
Bank.
It
comprises
a
wide
range
of
violations
to
international
law
including
destruction
of
land
and/or
property,
freedom
of
movement,
collective
punishment,
food,
education,
health,
work,
and
the
Crime
of
Apartheid".
(The Apartheid Wall)
The artist's conception paper:
The problem
The Wall is the continuation of the Zionist/Israeli expansionist agenda of stealing Palestinian
land and forcibly expelling residents, the Wall’s path annexes nearly 50% of the West Bank
and almost all of the Israeli settlements.
It is entirely unacceptable to build the Wall on the 1967 Green Line, there is a fundamental
injustice in caging in an entire population. While the 1967 Green Line is advocated by the UN
and many others to be the “international border” between Israel and the West Bank, the fact is
that, following the 1948 war and the Zionist proclamation of the State of Israel, communities
were forcibly and artificially divided into east/west by this “border”. However, the residents
continue to share social services, markets, and familiar ties. To advocate that the Wall could
be built on the 1967 Green Line is to legitimize the forcible separation of these communities.
Around Jerusalem the Wall is completing the Zionist/Israeli project of “Greater Jerusalem”,
which aims at “judaizing” and annexing East Jerusalem into a Jewish metropolitan area. The
Wall closes Jerusalem off to the north and south of the West Bank, but remains “open” to the
east for the still expanding settlement Ma’ale Adumim. The Wall will amount to the
confiscation of 90% of the land in the Jerusalem district.
Breaking down the problem
By breaking down the problem to its separate components, the following
components are revealed:
• Palestine
• Israel
• Entire population
• The wall
• Pain
• Apartheid
• Devastation
• Destruction
• Mayhem
• Confiscation
• Human rights
• Violations to International Law
• Burden
• Land
• Property
• Living
• ...etc.
By combining the components of the problem, and with the help of a common
saying ("...burden on my back"), the main idea is yet to be born:
The Wall is a burden on the back of each individual Palestinian!
Visualizing the problem (Symbols and signs)
A symbol is a visual image that stands for a concept or situation. In our case:
• The body symbolizes the people and land.
• The (kuffeyeh) symbolizes Palestine.
• The reclining of the body with the hand on the back symbolizes pain and
suffering.
• The wall symbolizes destruction, burden, and mayhem of Israel.