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I’m supporting Unmute Gaza because I’m a pacifist. I believe in solutions to disagreements that avoid violence. I stand with countless others demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. We are an intelligent species capable of cooperation and solving problems without violence. The tragic events of the last nine weeks in Israel and Palestine have saddened and upset me. First, I was shocked by Hamas’s murdering and kidnapping of Israeli citizens on October 7. I have since been shocked by the indiscriminate bombing and disregard for human rights and human life in Gaza by the Israeli military in response to Hamas’s attack. The denial of water, electrical power, and basic necessities to Gaza’s citizens, as well as their mass displacement, has no moral justification. Within the complex conversation and histories between Israelis and Palestinians, one thing that has emerged very quickly to me is that the Western media is largely uninterested in giving equal coverage to the suffering in Gaza that has taken the lives of an estimated 18,000 Palestinian civilians, many who are women and children. There are many photojournalists working courageously in Gaza to shed light on the real human consequences of Israel’s offensive. I was inspired to work from Belal Khaled‘s photo of a young boy who is crying out in pain from his injuries as blood runs down his face. An image like this (and thousands of others) can strip away the superficial overlay of country, ethnicity, and religion and illuminate the basic human suffering that is happening in Gaza. I’m morally compelled to amplify the message of Belal’s photograph and his caption “CAN YOU HEAR US?”. Let’s hope that, for the sake of peace and humanity that, we can all hear and respond!
–Shepard
This print is available for free download on UNMUTE GAZA’s website to PRINT AND PASTE it in your city.
Please watch this video HERE.
*PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
UNMUTE GAZA: A Creative Movement Bringing Photojournalists from Gaza to the Streets
UNMUTE GAZA has shut down the Guggenheim in New York, hung from buildings in Mumbai and covered streets across Spain; 21 countries, 31 cities and counting. This week the project invites American artist Shepard Fairey to join their international roster of visual artists, creating posters for the public to print and paste worldwide.
As of December 17th, the Committee to Protect Journalists has declared the deaths of 64 journalists and media workers, 57 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese; making Gaza one of the deadliest conflicts for journalists in recent memory. Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders are accusing Israel of committing war crimes against journalists who are providing a critical check on wartime propaganda in the age of fake news. UNMUTE GAZA emerged as a creative response to government and media silence, and the misinformation that followed.
UNMUTE GAZA is a creative movement in support of the photojournalists maintaining ethical reporting standards in unimaginable conditions, on the ground in Gaza. Over the past 7 weeks, visual artists have been working with 4 Photojournalists reporting from Gaza; Belal Khaled, Mahmoud Bassam, Sameh Nidal-Rahmi and Saher Alghorra. With their consent, they have been recreating the harrowing moments these journalists are witnessing, as paintings and sketches. All artworks are available as free assets to be printed and pasted by the public,. Interventions to date have been captured from across the world and have been compiled exclusively for this release to inspire further action. The short video is accompanied by music from Palestinian-Algerian-French-Serbian musician Saint Levant.
Artists continue to speak up in solidarity with Palestine, risking their livelihoods to do so. The past few weeks has seen Lisson Gallery postpone Ai Wei Wei, The Saarland Museum cancel Candice breitz and Art Forum Fire editor David Velasco over an open letter about Gaza.
Art reconnects us with our shared humanity at a vital moment of frightening division, as we cut the noise of politics and global economics, the movement makes a statement echoed around the world…
“WE DO NOT AGREE, WE ARE NOT COMPLICIT, WE ARE NOT LOOKING AWAY.” ~UNMUTE GAZA
www.unmutegaza.com / @unmutegaza / #unmutegaza
Unmute Gaza is anonymous. For press enquiries please contact info@charlottepyatt.co.uk
