A Palestinian graffiti artist walks along the apartheid wall built by the Israeli occupation, and some parts of it pass through the city of Bethlehem, displaying his murals condemning the occupation, which constitute an art exhibition in the air.
Sebatin´s works cover the concrete wall outside the "Wolde Off" hotel by international graffiti artist Banksy, which borders and overlooks the wall.
Among those works is a large mural showing the black American George Floyd, who was killed by former policeman Derek Chauvin.
After completing his recent work, which depicts a sniper rifle, under the Dome of the Rock mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, Sabatien says that he feels as if Floyd is "a Palestinian man with the same problems we have."
The painter explains how narrating the lives of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, through the murals, is an important tool to ensure that global awareness of the ongoing conflict does not diminish.
After four hours spent painting the new mural under the blazing sun at the base of an Israeli military watchtower south of the city, Sabateen believes that his mural works "transmit the image of Palestine to the world."
Among the murals that Spaten also painted, one of Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi, who depicted him kicking the ball with chains, a painting inspired by Argentina’s decision in 2018 to cancel a friendly match with Israel due to the occupation’s attacks on the Palestinians.
Soon, Sabateen will begin an art residency in France, where he intends to develop a project that depicts the so-called “blurry” sweeping through Palestinian society.
He explains that the work is partially inspired by the images of tear gas used by the Israeli forces to suppress protests with the Palestinians, as well as the dusty images that emerged from Gaza in the wake of the recent bloody Israeli attack.
The Palestinian artist stresses the importance of continuing to paint on the concrete wall, as decorating his “ugliness” has a “huge presence and impact.”
"Graffiti is a means of resistance in Palestine," he added.
