In the US and the UK, artists have worked to create a number of posters and billboards to both commemorate the Nakba and raise awareness about the occupation of Palestine. The work was displayed to coincided with a time when leaders of both countries unanimously praised the Occupation in total disregard of the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian people.
In the UK, Nakba60 has organized 5 different pieces to be displayed on 11 London billboards from 2 – 16. The billboard work assails Israel’s 60 years of on-going land expropriation, ethnic cleansing and dispossession, focusing on the destruction the Occupation military has wrecked across Palestine. Other designs by the group went up on 9 May
The artwork and comments by the artists make a striking contrast from the words of praise, support and congratulations that Britain’s leaders are expressing to Israel and the relative silence about the Nakba and Britain’s role in the dispossession of Palestine.
In the United States, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation sponsored a competition titled “Expressions of Nakba”, wherein artists were invited to submit their work to be judged under five different categories. The US Campaign is displaying the winning poster design throughout Manhattan (NYC) to coincide with the route of the planned “Salute to Israel Parade” that is to be held in June. The posters also counter the “Faces of Israel” campaign in New York City which represents the Occupation state as a vibrant multicultural capital, ignoring both its creation on the ruins of the Palestinian homeland and apartheid structures faced by Palestinians across historic Palestine.
For pictures see: