Palestinians use Israel’s weapons to sow peace

Abu Attaya collects these bombs and turn them into a message of peace for the world to see

A Palestinian man in Gaza has been turning empty tear gas canisters used by Israeli forces against Palestinian protesters near Gaza’s eastern border into pieces of art.

Thirty-four-year-old Abdul Karim Abu Ataya regularly collects the empty gas canisters near the border fence in order to transform them into decorative prayer beads and flower pots to “send a message of peace to the world.”

“We have been participating in the Great March of Return and calling for an end to the Gaza siege,” Abu Ataya told MEMO. “The occupation forces have been firing gas canisters at us, so I thought I’d use them to create prayer beads and flower pots.”

“They have fired them at us to harm us, but we want to use them to send a message of life and peace,” he explained.

INTERVIEW: ‘The Israelis occupy our minds’, Raed Andoni

Nearly 140 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s heavy-handed response to unarmed protesters in Gaza. Some 15,000 have also been injured by live fire or as a result of suffocation from teargas inhalation.

Abu Attaya collects these bombs and turn them into a message of peace for the world to see [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

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