“You Are Now Entering Free Gaza”

“You Are Now Entering Free Gaza,” 2009 (Palestine Poster Project)

This mural is a repainting of the “You Are Now Entering Free Derry” mural. That iconic mural was created in 1969after barricades were put up to enclose Catholic neighborhoods in a reaction to sectarian violence and was, “emblematic of communal attitudes and collective resistance” (Jarman). The area is repainted at different points and in these iterations the, “Free Derry Corner remains a defiant public space” (Jarman). Thus, the changing of this particular public space to read “You Are Now Entering Free Gaza” loads this message with a particular amount of significance and develops a sense of community solidarity between Ireland and Palestine. This is a good example, in general, of the weight given to international themes through their physical placement on the walls in Northern Ireland. Such placement interpolates audiences to see these international problems as parallel to local ones while also reimagining local struggles in a constantly updated global framework. It is also interesting to note that while some people and artists see the space occupied by these murals as a part of Irish history to be preserved, others see them it as part of the larger system which is important in its continual reflection of the modern global situation, and thus must be updated and reconsidered (462 Rolston).

Political Murals of Bogside and Palestine

Representations of Palestine

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