Sandy Row says “no” to an Irish Sea border, but “yes” to Israel’s invasion of Gaza. The verbiage along the bottom of the tarp reads, “The battles we refuse to fight today become the hardships our children must endure tomorrow.”
The tarp is on the Rangers “55” hoarding on Sandy Row, and was recorded previously in Let Us Shout Joyfully.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14774 X14775
The Palestinian West Bank is surrounded by, and in some places penetrated by, a system of barriers 440 miles long. In some places it takes the form of multiple fences, in others, of a concrete wall reaching to a height of 30 feet/9 metres. (Here is WP’s map of the wall in the vicinity of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, also showing the Israeli settlements in this part of the West Bank).
In this mural, a Palestinian stands on top of the wall and looks towards (Christian) Church Of The Holy Sepulchre and the (Islamic) Dome Of The Rock in old Jerusalem and imagines themselves a phoenix, a symbol representing rebirth and persistence, well known from (Irish) republican muraling (Peter Moloney Collection | Extramural collection).
The mural is on the International Wall, west Belfast, part of the Painting For Palestine project (Fb). The original artist is unknown.
The West Bank barrier is locally known as the “separation” or “apartheid” wall. For west Belfast’s own euphemistically-called “peace” wall, see State Art Vs Graffiti On The West Belfast “Peace” Line.
The next mural (to the right) can be seen in Worsening Crisis In Gaza.
The image above was taken on February 25th. Other “in-progress” images are as dated below.
February 22nd:
January 28th:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14784
X14760 [X14751]
X14711
This mural is based on an original by Ahmad Shaweesh (ig) which shows a group of people, perhaps a family, in distress. The piece, both original and reproduction, is deliberately left unfinished, presumably to represent the unfinished lives of the Gaza dead.
The mural is on the International Wall, west Belfast, part of the Painting For Palestine project (Fb). The next mural, to the right, is of Soso And Omar Ashour.
The image above is from February 25th. Other in-progress images are as dated below.
February 22nd:
February 7th:
January 26th:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14785c [X14785]
X14755
X14712 [X14744]
X14645
In December, South Africa lodged an emergency application (pdf) at the International Court Of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, alleging that Israel had violated the 1948 convention on genocide (see also the WP page of human rights violations against Palestinians).
Two days of public hearings were held on January 11th and 12th and the ruling on the 26th directed Israel to take “all measures” to prevent any acts that could be considered genocidal, though it did not order a halt to Israel’s attack on Gaza (Al Jazeera | WP).
Sınn Féın moved in the Dáıl that Ireland join South Africa as a plaintiff in the full case, but the motion was defeated (Irish Times).
The image above shows, on the left, three children from Ireland, Palestine, and South Africa holding hands, and, on the right, dead Palestinian children flying to heaven over stripped and kneeling Palestinian prisoners. The flying children are based on an image by Taqdees Fatima (ig) and the kneeling prisoners on an image by Saïd Hassan (ig). The source for the three children is unknown.
The murals are on the International Wall, west Belfast, and part of the Painting For Palestine project (Fb). The next mural (to the right) can be seen in Let Your Hopes Bloom As the Cactus Blooms.
February 22nd:
[For in-progress images from February 18th, see the Paddy Duffy Collection.]
February 14th:
February 7th:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14786 [X14787] X14788 [X14789] X14790
22nd: X14758 [X14753] X14752 [X14756] [X14757]
14th: X14740 [X14741] [X14742] [X14743]
7th: X14714
A Palestinian boy sitting among rubble looks out through a window of bars to see doves flaying in front of a Palestinian flag.
Based on a original by artist Azhar Al Majed (ig).
On the International Wall, west Belfast, part of the Painting For Palestine project (Fb).
The image above is from February 25th. Other images are as dated below:
February 22nd:
February 14th:
February 7th:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14781 [X14780] [X14782] [X14783]
X14754 [X14759]
X14739
X14716
“When it comes to punk, New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason.” – Terri Hooley in 2012’s Good Vibrations (IMDb).
The final incarnation of Hooley’s Good Vibrations record shop (Fb) closed in North Street in 2015 (BelTel). It began in October 1976 at 102 Great Victoria Street (Spit Records | Louder Than War | Spit Records) — the shop and Hooley are included, along with footage of the Undertones, Outcasts, Stiff Little Fingers, and many others — in the 1979 documentary Shellshock Rock (UK viewers can watch at BFI | Spit Records has a great write-up of events surrounding the film’s launch).
The new mural is close to the shop’s second location (from roughly 1984-1993), on the other side of the road, at 121 Great Victoria Street, which itself has had “Good Vibrations” signage reinstated by Zippy (ig) – one of the new pieces around the corner on 127 Great Victoria Street that can be seen in the entry in the Paddy Duffy collection.
Big Time Punk is in Stroud Street, painted by Peaball, specifically RAZER (ig) and NOYS (ig).
The plaque (final image) outside the Harp Bar (in Hill Street) reads, “For the contribution made by Terri Hooley and the role of Good Vibrations to Belfast’s music heritage and putting Belfast on the international music map. The Harp Bar and its shared history of the people and bands who played here. The Outcasts, Rudi, SLF, The Defects, The Undertones and many more 1978-1982.”
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14773 X14772
X13881
This is one of five pieces by digital artist Saïd Hassan (ig) that is being painted on the International Wall as part of the Painting For Palestine (Fb) project. It shows a family of refugees living in a tent; the female adult is cooking over an open flame while three children look on.
This is the last (right-most) of the 12 murals.
The images above and immediately below are from February 14th. The ‘in-progress’ images below are in reverse-chronological order.
[For a mostly-complete in-progress image from January 24th, see the Paddy Duffy Collection.]
January 20th:
January 17th:
The original art is by Saïd Hassan.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14746 X14747 [X14748] [X14568] X14638 X14613 X14640
The first (left-most) mural of the Painting For Palestine project (Fb) reproduces a piece that once stood in a Gaza school, called The Land Is Ours, by Mohammed Alhaj, Abdullah Al Najar, Rami Al Safadi, and Abdel Hamid Fares. It shows a human figure holding a Palestinian flag that wraps around an olive tree and the Dome Of The Rock temple in Jerusalem.
The next mural in the PforP project can be seen in Another Martyr In The Earth.
January 20th:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14738
X14621
X14620
Siblings Soso and Omar Ashour were brought to a Gaza hospital in the first week of the Israeli attack. Artist Raed Yousef Qatanani (ig) took them as subjects (ig photo | ig video of the pair) for a painting which has in turn been reproduced on the International Wall in west Belfast as part of the Painting For Palestine project (Fb).
The next mural (to the right) can be seen in Out Of The Ashes Of 1948.
January 26th:
January 20th:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14745
X14644
X14632
“Since 2012” and lasting until the undetermined year “XXXX”. Protests against the restricted flying of the Union Flag at City Hall were held on a daily basis in the winter of 2012-2013 after the Council’s vote on December 3rd. It became a weekly protest perhaps in the spring and a group of die-hards continues to meet each Saturday. There does not seem to be a functioning public social media channel for “Loyal People’s Protest”; the numbers might be small enough that a private group chat is sufficient. The male in the top right of the placard is unknown; there have previously been media profiles of Billy and Ann Dickson (Belfast Live).
For background links, see Union Jack – Donegall Pass.
Previously from the railings: Eddie Supports The Flag. A tarp from earlier protests: British And Proud.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X14729 X14730
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 