Gaza youth paint longest mural in Palestine

Over 50 young Palestinian artists have participated in a mural painting activity in the Gaza Strip in a bid to break the national record for the longest mural.

The previous national record was held after a mural measuring 80 metres long was painted in 2013, the current fresco is 100 metres in length and 1.6 metres wide.

The event was oragnised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)’s Networks of Mediterranean Youth Project (NET-MED Youth) in cooperation with the General Union of Cultural Centers (GUCC), an NGO member of the NET-MED Youth network in Gaza on the occasion of the International Youth Day.

Network of Mediterranean Youth Project coordinator in Gaza Rima Saleem told the Middle East Monitor that the event is being held to shed light on the talents of Palestinian youth in Gaza and the difficulties they face in the hope that it will move the world and brings focus on the Palestinian people’s plight there.

Artist Mahmoud Al-Hajj, 34, said he drew people trying but failing to climb ladders which depicts the young people’s reality in Gaza.

“We use our art to get the world’s attention but we are very frustrated at the same time,” he said.

Aya Abu Khatleh, 21, said she drew a screaming woman. “The woman is the Palestinian woman who has suffered from successive wars. She is the graduate who did not get a chance to work and continues to live under the siege,” Aya explained.

“It is a national and moral duty to help her send her voice to the world,” she added.

Mariam Salah, 19, named her painting “the false dream”.

She said the false dream is the constructed homes, the university graduates who find jobs and rebuild the enclave.

“It is a false dream because we do not have any hope to achieve it. None of that will happen. The homes are destroyed, no one works and the reconstruction process is very slow.”

The new mural is expected to break the national record for the number of participating artists, as the previous one gathered only 15.

Images by MEMO photographer: Mohammad Asad.