The first thought I thought that William Parry was simply copying what Artist4Israel did with their amazing murality project. Then I realized that would be an insult to that organization, their effort in putting it together, the artists involved, and the work they created. Looking at all the photos just made me laugh, not because they weren't good but because they were so obviously staged. It is just a pale imitation of the original idea. Parry was even helped by someone who worked on that project. The artists in the original at least had interesting art to put on the walls instead of some cheesy poorly stenciled Christmas message.
To be honest, I did like some pictures, the one with the small children. Like this....
I enjoy these photos because they show the resilience of kids and how easy it is for them to simply have fun despite the terrible situation they are in. That is as far as my enjoyment of the photos go though. All the happy feelings are separated away because the longer I look at the photos the more obvious it is that the innocent children are just being used yet again. Parry isn't using them like the typical member of Hamas (i.e. as a human shield) but as a pure propaganda prop. I can almost hear the thoughts in his brain; "oooh look at how they resist!", "oooh look inspirationaly at something off in the distance!", or "oooh look they are just like normal kids!". Here is a question for you the reader. What was your first reaction to the Christmas message spray painted on the wall? Mine was just plain confusion considering what is really going on in that city. Bethlehem is not the safest place for a Christian and it is directly because it is under Muslim control, NOT Hamas control but rather Fatah control (apparently it doesn't matter which Muslim is in charge). Here was the truely shocking part for me (in case you don't want to read the whole thing)...
"There are many examples of intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion," he said. PA officials are directly responsible for many of the attacks, and some Muslims who have converted to Christianity have been murdered.
...Parry, go ahead and bring Bethlehem to London, it sounds like a great idea. I'd like to say that Christians have it better in other places under Muslim rule but sadly i can't.
Even if I ignored all that other crap in the article there is still one tihng that really pissed me off the most. The fact that this douche calls himself a "photo journalist". Every tiny thing in the article points to the fact that this is the furthest thing from the truth. Everything was set up and planned ahead, which is the exact opposite of of what a jounalist is suppose to do. If this was all done internally by a local artist I wouldn't mind as much but since it was "Parry’s initiative", it just pisses me off. He is nothing but a spineless pimp using other people for his gain and spreading false talking points without thinking anything through. Don't think he is profiting from this? then why the plug for his book at the end. Santa's Ghetto ( the original idea) and Artists4israel aren't getting one cent, it is all to the benefit of others.
p.s. I loved the quote by a worker waiting on line at the check point. It kept me laughing. I know that it isn't easy to wait on line to go through security everyday but no matter where you are in the world someone is complaining about their commute to work.
No comments:
Post a Comment