The artwork features three aircraft resembling military drones affixed to a bold red "stop" sign. While Banksy's piece doesn't explicitly endorse a specific cause, its appearance coincides with growing international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. Sadly, the mural's life was short-lived, as it was removed less than an hour after its creation by two unidentified individuals. This thought-provoking creation was shared on Banksy's Instagram page and official website. However, Banksy's representatives have chosen to remain silent on the matter.
Banksy has a history of using his art to shed light on the struggles in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. His work began in 2005, with a series of murals on the Palestinian side of the West Bank barrier. Many of these murals have since been removed, but their impact lingers. Among them is a silhouette of a girl floating upward, clutching a bunch of balloons, and a young boy with a bucket and spade peering through a massive hole in the wall. In 2004, the United Nations declared Israel's 425-mile-long wall as illegal, and Banksy has aptly referred to it as a structure that effectively turns Palestine into the world's largest open prison.
Other notable works like "Stop and Search," painted in Bethlehem in 2007, depict a girl in a pink dress patting down a soldier, symbolising the oppressive reach of state power. A rat armed with a slingshot serves as a protest against the Israeli occupation.
In 2017, Banksy made another profound statement by opening the "Walled Off Hotel" directly opposite the West Bank barrier. The unique hotel offered guests a view of concrete slabs topped with barbed wire, described by the artist as "the worst view of any hotel in the world." The intention behind this project was to attract tourism to the beleaguered area and expose visitors to the stark realities of living in the shadow of the imposing wall.
The latest street work recalls the 2017 piece “Civilian Drone Strike” which shows three General Atomics MQ-1 Predator drones flying above a child's drawing of a bombed house with a child and pet looking on at the destruction. The piece was donated to the Art the Arms Fair gallery and was exhibited to coincide with the 2017 DSEI arms fair. The work sold for £205,000 with proceeds from the sale going towards the Campaign Against Arms Trade and Reprieve. Banksy has a longstanding history of expressing his support for anti-war voices and organisation through his oeuvre including in the 2009 work CND Soldiers which originally appeared as a mural in London.
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