54. Photo Essay - The Paint Brush is Mightier than the Sword or the Gun

Two Mexican artists, Alberto Aragón Reyes and Gustavo Chávez Pavón, together with some Palestinians and four Ecumenical Accompaniers gathered to paint the message of freedom and justice on the Wall that separates Abu Dis from Jerusalem October 25th. This part of the Wall is close to Al Quds University, so many students pass it everyday. We, as Accompaniers, weren’t there to show off our artistic talents. However, we understood that there could be problems with the army, so an international presence was needed. Soldiers did show up, but first we had some hours of undisturbed painting. On this day the paint brush was mightier than the sword, or in this case, the gun. The soldiers realized that they could not arrest someone for painting peaceful images on the Wall, so after a while they went off again and let us continue. The artists came to Palestine through the sponsorship of the International Center of Bethlehem.

Eva Halling