Artist: Banksy. December 2007, Bethlehem, Israel.
The photograph of the mural was retrieved from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7125611.stm
The image depicts a role
reversal that redefines the hierarchy of power between IDF soldiers and Palestinians. In reality IDF soldiers are
the dominant and powerful agent in the occupied territories and the
Palestinians are the oppressed group. Part of the daily practices of IDF
solders is to conduct search on suspected Palestinians. IDF justify
these kind of practices by claiming they are necessary for the security of Israel. This image challenges this perspective by depicting an absurd
situation of a girl conducting a search on a solder. This situation obviously
challenges the typical hierarchy. The girl symbolizes naivety and innocent represents Palestinians. The unexpected reversal role is amusing at first, but quickly
becomes disturbing. This is a powerful allegory about the reality of the two
nations. The medium of graffiti strengthen the message of the
image. Graffiti is created in the public sphere and is an unauthorized
act. Stencil graffiti, that was used in this case, implies of recurring pattern of IDF solders acts.
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