Stencil Graffiti in warzone Beirut

By : http://www.arofish.org.uk/arofish/album15


Arofish stencil artist has added to Beirut's most bombed neighbourhoods some joy with the images of kids flying kites on the ruins of buildings.
One time I was in Jenin, in 2002, a few months after the invasion. There was a lot of Israeli military activity still going on. One day myself and several other internationals (and locals) were taking cover in an alley as several armoured fighting vehicles, stationary in positions around the town centre, were basically shooting the place up by way of enforcing curfew. I was lying on some steps at the entrance to the alley, looking out to see what was happening. One tank was firing with a roof-mounted heavy machine gun directly at a stone wall opposite the entrance to the alley. It crossed my mind that perhaps they were trying to bounce rounds in at us, but as I looked I saw that there was some graffiti sprayed on the wall, right where the bullets were hitting. It was just basic written words, which I couldn’t read as I don’t have the Arabic. I don’t know if it was Anti Jewish, Pro-Intifada or whatever. But the gun was shattering and blasting at the stone, erasing the words with bullets. I don’t have a clear point to make here but it stuck in my mind anyway .