Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)

For Palestinian artist Taqi Spateen, walking along the wall built by Israel and separating the West Bank from the Hebrew state, is an opportunity to see his exhibition of graffiti denouncing the Israeli occupation.

His work fills in particular a large part of the portion of the separation wall which faces the hotel "Walled-Off", arranged in Bethlehem by the street artist Banksy and whose windows give intentionally on this symbol of the occupation.

Among Taqi Spateen's paintings is a huge portrait of George Floyd, the African American killed in May 2020 in Minneapolis, USA, by policeman Derek Chauvin.

"I have the impression that (George Floyd, Editor's note) is a Palestinian. It is about the same concerns as ours", in particular the fight against racism, entrusts the artist to AFP, after having completed his latest graffiti, a sniper rifle under the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the eastern part of the holy city of which was annexed and occupied by Israel since 1967.

For the 32-year-old, recounting with his brushes life under Israeli occupation is vital to ensuring that the world does not forget the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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The West Bank, located to the east of Israel, has been occupied since 1967. The Gaza Strip, to the west of the Jewish state, has been under Israeli blockade for almost 15 years.

These graffiti "transmit the image of Palestine to the world," says the artist, after spending four hours painting under a blazing sun, at the foot of an Israeli army watchtower.

- "Apartheid wall" -

Israel began to build in 2002, in the midst of the Intifada (Palestinian uprising, editor's note), what it calls the "security fence" supposed to protect it from attacks from the West Bank, and which should eventually reach 712 km in length.

For Palestinians, this barrier made of barbed wire, electric fences and concrete walls reaching up to nine meters in height is the "apartheid wall", one of the occupation's most despised symbols.

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Taqi Spateen, who lives in Houssane, west of Bethlehem, also portrayed Argentina football star Lionel Messi kicking a ball through chains.

An image inspired by Argentina's 2018 decision to cancel a friendly match with Israel, due to the Hebrew state's treatment of the Palestinians.

The artist is on the verge of settling in residence in Paris, where he wishes to produce a work representing a "fog" engulfing Palestinian society.

Taqi says he was inspired in part by images of tear gas fired by Israeli forces to quell Palestinian protests and riots, as well as photos of dust covering Gaza after Israeli raids on the Palestinian enclave in May.

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Israel razed several buildings in Gaza during an 11-day conflict in May, which also saw Palestinians from Gaza fire thousands of rockets into Israeli territory.

The "ugliness" of the wall, its "presence and its enormous impact" are all motivations for the artist to continue his work.

"Graffiti is a tool of resistance in Palestine," he said.

© 2021 AFP