{"id":33860,"date":"2024-05-21T13:23:33","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T20:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=33860"},"modified":"2024-05-21T13:23:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T20:23:34","slug":"mission-street-pro-palestine-mural-defaced-for-fifth-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/05\/21\/mission-street-pro-palestine-mural-defaced-for-fifth-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission Street pro-Palestine mural defaced for fifth time\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/strong> MAY 20, 2024 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A mural vandalized on Thursday at Mission and Cortland streets, on May 18, 2024. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A mural depicting Palestinian resistance against approaching helicopters and tanks, painted on a Mission Street wall at Cortland Avenue, was defaced this week, with keffiyeh-clad faces scratched out and \u201cFuck Hamas\u201d sprayed across it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the fifth time this specific mural has been vandalized, said Chris Gazaleh, the Palestinian-American artist who created it last July. In his years painting murals with Palestinian themes in the city, he said several of his other murals have been defaced repeatedly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s gonna happen, because of the message,\u201d Gazaleh said. \u201cIt\u2019s also very telling \u2026 basically, we are in a place where Arab and Muslim, Palestinian lives are still dehumanized in the mainstream eye of America.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mural, which shows a man protecting his people by throwing something toward oncoming militia, reads \u201cResistance is justified when people r occupied\u201d at the top. It states that billions of U.S. tax dollars go to the \u201cillegal Israeli occupation of Palestine to bomb kill n\u2019 steal life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text and the people\u2019s faces were covered with spray paint this week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanie McCollom, the owner of Rabbit Hole restaurant, inside the building where the mural is painted, said the mural raises many questions with her customers: \u201cIt\u2019s triggering for some people, and important for other people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, there are many sides to every story, and it\u2019s unfortunate that we can\u2019t have all perspectives appreciated,\u201d McCollom said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A previous vandalism to Chris Gazaleh\u2019s mural at Mission and Cortland streets. Photo courtesy of Gazaleh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Another past vandalism to Chris Gazaleh\u2019s mural at Mission and Cortland streets. Photo courtesy of Gazaleh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each time his mural has been vandalized, Gazaleh said he has repainted it out of his own pocket \u2014 and has done the same with several other murals that have faced similar pushback: His mural at 24th Street at Noe Street, calling for an end to genocide<\/a>, had swastikas drawn on it. Another mural with pro-Palestinian symbols in Lilac Alley that Gazaleh also worked on<\/a> was defaced in 2021, and even his first pro-Palestine mural, painted in 2011, was immediately vandalized after he completed it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt sucks; you have to repaint stuff all the time, and it\u2019s not always easy,\u201d said Gazaleh, who is now raising funds for this latest repainting. \u201cAnd also, it\u2019s not always safe: I don\u2019t know if people are watching me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gazaleh, who grew up between the Bay Area and near Detroit, said he believes the same person has been targeting his murals for years, and said he recognizes the person\u2019s handwriting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he said that he will continue to create art promoting the Palestinian cause, because \u201cwe don\u2019t have the power in the media, we don\u2019t have that platform to present our story \u2014 so I have to keep doing this.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, Gazaleh\u2019s Instagram account, which had thousands of followers, was shut down permanently. The note from Instagram, which Gazaleh posted, said \u201ctoo much activity on your account doesn\u2019t follow our community guidelines.\u201d He created a new account, and started rebuilding, as he always has. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy plan is to be just as just as resilient as my people in Gaza are being, which means that I\u2019m not giving up,\u201d Gazaleh said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

eleni@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPORTER. Eleni reports on policing in San Francisco. She first moved to the city on a whim more than 10 years ago, and the Mission has become her home. Follow her on Twitter @miss_elenius.More by Eleni Balakrishnan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN MAY 20, 2024 (MissionLocal.org) A mural depicting Palestinian resistance against approaching helicopters and tanks, painted on a Mission Street wall at Cortland Avenue, was defaced this week, with keffiyeh-clad faces scratched out and \u201cFuck Hamas\u201d sprayed across it.  It is the fifth time this specific mural has been… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33860"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33861,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33860\/revisions\/33861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}