Banksy and a Palestinian artist beyond boycott

Earlier this week, al-Araby al-Jadeed reported that Shadi al-Zaqzouq, a Palestinian artist whose art was being displayed in British graffiti artist Banksy's Dismaland exhibition, was told his art would be removed after he staged a protest against Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

"I found out when arrived at the show that three Israeli artists were taking part, one of whom served in the IDF," Zaqzouq told al-Araby.

He then staged a protest by covering his paintings with a sheet saying "RIP Gaza, Boycott Israel", and lay down in fron of them "like a corpse". 

The show's organisers did not remove his paintings.

The incident was a surprise to many - as Banksy has previously been held up by many Palestinians for his work on the separation wall and in Gaza.

Some even said that the protest could have actually been an extremely meta live-art concept orchestrated between Banksy and Zaqzouq to further highlight the issues that Palestinian people continue to face.

Zaqzouq made clear that his work was still on exhibition during the protest, but that he has not received an apology for comments reportedly made by Banksy's manager - or for displaying his work next to Israeli artists' pieces.

The episode sheds more questions on the cultural boycott of Israel which, according to BDS guidelines "does not target individual artists unless they serve as cultural ambassadors to rebrand Israel as a normal country, or are representatives - as opposed to mere affiliates - of complicit institutions".

In the case of the Israeli artist who served in the military, the boycott may be justified under the movement's guidelines

In the case of the Israeli artist who served in the military, the boycott may be justified under the movement's guidelines.

However, for Zaqzouq, these issues go beyond the official BDS movement, but come deep from personal experience -which has led to his reluctance to display his work next to the work of Israeli artists.

Julie Burchill, who is in charge of the Punch & Julie show at the attraction, which addresses issues from abused women to Jimmy Savile, posted on Facebook: "O dear! Two of the Israeli works are pro-Palestinian anyway (I believe)."

Read more: Gaza gets the Banksy treatment

One of the Israeli artists, Amir Schiby, depicted the four Gazan children killed on a beach in front of journalists' cameras in the last Gaza war.

Asked if his protest position would be any different if the Israelis were "activists" who worked and advocated for Palestine, Zaqzouq says his views were clear:

"Those who are really activists should work from outside the country," he said. "The country is stolen."

Zaqzouq's family originally comes from Jaffa, a town at the forefront of the mass displacement of Palestinians that accompanied the formation of Israel in 1948.

"I haven't seen my family for nine years," he said. They are in Gaza, the target of an onslaught that killed 2,400 Palestinians in the summer of 2014.

"It has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. I am Semitic," said Zaqzouq. "This has to do with killing children in Gaza."

He said that his actions had not yet led to any show of support from pro-Palestine institutions or the BDS movement - but he has received a positive reception from "normal Palestinians" within the occupied territories.

The whole episode demonstrates how those who purport to be in solidarity with Palestine may actually be out of touch with the stance of many Palestinians.

Banksy himself relayed an anecdote that also reflects this tension.

"You're making the wall look beautiful," an elderly Palestinian man reportedly told the artist when he was working on the separation wall in 2005.

"Thanks," said Banksy.

"We don’t want it to be beautiful, we hate this wall. Go home."

Zaqzouq's protest has not been the only controversy at the Dismaland show.

To stop resale of tickets, visitors have now been asked to show photo IDs, to see the work of an artist who coined the slogan "one nation under CCTV". Reports have also emerged that Brad Pitt had been given a private tour of the show.