Following last week’s contribution “Shit”, here is the latest in the series of works by Berlin-based Palestinian artists Rasha Al Jundi and Michael Jabareen.
Since day one of the the 2023 genocide in occupied Palestine, white washed narratives, slogans and actions went viral. As we worked on this image, we were aware of the planned mass pro-Palestine demonstration in Berlin, which was preceded by many similar demos. Solidarity actions have been well recognised and commended. However, did some people go to demonstrate to clear their conscious, perhaps release some rage and then… go rave? Yes this happened. Were some calling for a “ceasefire”, simply to go back to their “normal lives” while Palestinians’ slow death becomes a footnote on mainstream and social media? Yes they were. We do not believe in holding back or non-confrontational discussions.
In this image, the abandoned item is a black board with a drawing of a naked female body.
Titled “Soli-Ceasefire”, it features a stereotypical scene from “soli-parties” (“Soli” stands for “solidarity”). According to the widely-used slogan, solidarity is a verb, but what kind of action does one take part in to show it? The types of actions and words matter and they’ve always have done. This has not been a time to call for “rosy peace” or a “humanitarian ceasefire”. This is the time to call for an end to the genocide, an end to the whole settler occupation, an end to the normalised daily slaughter, torture and imprisonment of Palestinians. A complete end of what the Zionist entity embodies in its whole entirety.
The end goal of our demands and our narrative must not get washed down. A simple call for a “ceasefire” means that our armed resistance must stop. It means a little pause while Palestinians continue to get killed due to hunger, thirst, disease, torture and daily raids. It basically does not mean anything to the native owners of the land.
Shut it down, don’t rave about it.
Image taken after a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Kreuzberg, Berlin (2023).