Possible Banksy works on West Bank barrier

Graffiti resembling the work of elusive artist Banksy and depicting Donald Trump has appeared on Israel's West Bank separation barrier.

Has Banksy struck again in familiar territory?

Two murals showing an oversize President Donald Trump appeared on Friday on Israel's West Bank separation barrier, just metres from where the elusive artist decorated a hotel earlier this year.

The new drawings that resemble Banksy's earlier art popped up on the edge of Bethlehem, the Palestinian city where the barrier largely consists of a wall of towering slabs of concrete.

In one scene, Trump is shown hugging and kissing a real Israeli army watchtower built into the wall, as his left arm reaches around the tower.

In another drawing, Trump is depicted wearing a Jewish skullcap and placing a hand a wall - a scene taken from the US president's May visit to Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

A cartoon thought bubble next to him says: "I'm going to build you a brother" - a possible reference to Trump's plans to build a wall between the US and Mexico.

It is not clear if the new murals are indeed the work of Banksy.

The new graffiti is just a few metres from The Walled Off Hotel, a Palestinian-run guesthouse opened this year that bills itself as having the "worst view in the world".

The nine-room hotel was decorated with Banksy's trademark political murals, including one in "Banksy's Room" that shows a masked Palestinian and a helmeted Israeli soldier in a pillow fight.

Banksy has made previous forays into the Palestinian territories, including drawing a painting of a girl pulled upward by balloons on the barrier facing the hotel.


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2 min read
Published 5 August 2017 6:28am
Source: AAP


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