Protest mural depicts Trump, PM on Bethlehem wall
Another Donald Trump mural believed to be the work of Australian graffiti artist Lushsux has popped up on Israel’s barrier in the West Bank, this time depicting the US president sharing a kiss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Standing against the backdrop of a cement section of the security wall in Bethlehem, his face hidden by a headdress, a man who identified himself as Lushsux said that he hoped his painting would draw attention to Palestinians stuck in “an indoor prison”.
The Bethlehem wall has become a showcase of protest art voicing Palestinians’ fears that Israel’s West Bank fenceand-concrete barrier is a land grab that may deny them a state. Israelis deem the project a bulwark against Palestinian attacks.
“The wall is a message in itself,” the man, who said he painted the mural overnight, told Reuters. “I don’t need to write ‘Free Palestine’ or something like that, something really direct ... that people will ignore.
“I just paint what I usually paint and maybe people will start looking at the background and looking at the razor wire and looking at people stuck in here, and maybe that’ll work better,” he said in Australian-accented English.
Murals on the barrier believed to be the work of Lushsux include one showing Trump kissing an Israeli watchtower and another depicting him placing his hand on the barrier and thinking about building a similar wall on the US border with Mexico. (Reuters)