Against the Wall

The Art of Resistance in Palestine

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Features
Commendations

Israel's wall is transformed into the world's largest protest banner
The photos express outrage, compassion and humour; and illustrate the wall's toll on lives and livelihoods
4.6 stars on goodreads.com
195 x 260 mm, paperback
192 pages
120 photographs

A singular achievement – both a stunning photographic essay of how Israel’s concrete wall has cut into Palestinian land and strangled whole communities and a powerful visual record of how local and international graffiti artists have battered it with their only weapons, paint and spray cans.

Joe Sacco, author of 'Palestine' and 'Footnotes in Gaza'

is the largest protest banner the world has ever known... By engaging with it practically and imaginatively William Parry has produced an outstanding example of cultural resistance.

Ahdaf Soueif, author of 'The Map of Love'

This book is very beautiful and very ugly. The wall is very ugly, much of the art on it is very beautiful. This book helps to expose the ugly tyranny of oppression. There is beauty in the resistance of the Palestinian people. The annexation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank is ugly. That many Israelis are joining the resistance against their own government’s policies is brave and beautiful. The ugliness of the wall outweighs the beauty of the rest. This book seeks to redress the balance.

Roger Waters, Pink Floyd

The wall stands as a dreadful symbol of oppression. The spirit of resistance may be strong but Palestinians need international support. I hope this book makes that more likely.

Ken Loach, filmmaker

This stunning book of photos captures the graffiti and art that has transformed Israel's wall into a living canvas of resistance and solidarity.

Featuring the work of artists including Banksy, Ron English, Blu and others, as well as Palestinian artists and activists, these photos express outrage, compassion, and touching humour. They illustrate the wall's toll on lives and livelihoods, showing the hardship it has brought to tens of thousands of people, preventing their access to work, education and vital medical care.

The wall itself cuts through Palestinian communities in the West Bank with devastating effect. The artwork and graffiti range from vast murals expressing international solidarity to powerful symbolic expressions of the Israeli authorities' brutality and Palestinian civil society determination to continue resisting Israeli expansionism and expulsion.

The graffiti, written by people from all over the world, expresses anger, outrage, humour, sympathy and solidarity. Between the artwork and graffiti are vignettes of the Palestinian lives and communities devastated by Israel's wall, which convey Palestinians' steadfastness and determination to fight for justice and dignity.

One message appears all along the wall and in the hearts of the communities penned in by it: to exist is to resist.

Published to coincide with the 6th Anniversary of the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on the illegality of the West Bank Barrier.

Summary taken from the ICJ official Press Release:

THE HAGUE, 9 July 2004. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has today rendered its Advisory Opinion in the case concerning the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (request for advisory opinion). In its Opinion, the Court finds unanimously that it has jurisdiction to give the advisory opinion requested by the United Nations General Assembly and decides by fourteen votes to one to comply with that request.
The Court responds to the question as follows:
- A. By fourteen votes to one - The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated régime, are contrary to international law;
- B. By fourteen votes to one - Israel is under an obligation to terminate its breaches of international law; it is under an obligation to cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall being built in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, to dismantle forthwith the structure therein situated, and to repeal or render ineffective forthwith all legislative and regulatory acts relating thereto, in accordance with paragraph 151 of this Opinion;
- C. By fourteen votes to one - Israel is under an obligation to make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem;
- D. By thirteen votes to two - All States are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction; all States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 have in addition the obligation, while respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention;
- E. By fourteen votes to one, - The United Nations, and especially the General Assembly and the Security Council, should consider what further action is required to bring to an end the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and the associated régime, taking due account of the present Advisory Opinion.