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Palestinians in Gaza Express Love, Politics With Graffiti

Graffiti continues to decorate the Gaza Strip as young Gazans use it to express everything from politics to love.

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Graffiti in Gaza has evolved to the point of becoming an end in and of itself, and not a means by which to convey any political or social message, October 2013. — Sami Haven

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Stark colors, subdued colors; sometimes beautiful, other times childish lines. Old words covered in a coat of white paint, itself covered in new verses again. Slogans atop one another, representing Hamas, the Quds Brigades or the Popular Front. Walls weakened by years of slogans and canvases, scratched out and redrawn, ad infinitum.

Political rhetoric transformed into congratulatory messages after a successful pilgrimage, wedding or release from prison. Walls quickly cleaned only to be re-adorned with ads and phone numbers for burial or taxi services, adjacent to the painting of a rocket proclaiming the formation of a new military brigade. Such is Gaza, an open book whose pages are written on concrete.

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