Bleeding camera lens: Syrian graffiti artist honors slain Palestinian journalists

By Ahmet Karaahmet and Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – A Syrian graffiti artist residing in northwestern Idlib city of Syria drew a camera lens on a wall in Idlib in memory of Palestinian journalists who lost their lives in Israeli forces attacks.

At least eight journalists were killed and two others were missing in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which began following Hamas's surprise offensive in Israel on Saturday, the Palestinian enclave's press office said on Wednesday.

Aziz al-Asmar has earned a reputation for painting international and local agenda items on the walls of ruined houses in the aftermath of Bashar al-Assad regime strikes. His latest work is a tribute to the slain Palestinian journalists.

On a wall of a house turned into rubble by a Syrian army attack in the Binnish area of Idlib, al-Asmar demonstrated his solidarity with Palestinian journalists by painting “a camera lens bleeding from its glass” and the letters "UN" over an eye, as well as by inscribing the message, "Your pain is our pain from Idlib to Gaza.”

The artist told Anadolu that he draws major global events on the walls of destroyed homes.

This is an effort to immortalize the crimes committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian journalists, al-Asmar said, adding "The occupying Israeli forces have taken the lives of numerous journalists. They killed Shireen Abu Akleh in Gaza a short time ago."

Shireen Abu Akleh, a senior journalist associated with Al Jazeera widely respected for her extensive coverage of Palestine and Israel, was shot in the head while covering an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank city of Hebron. She was wearing a blue vest marked “PRESS” and a helmet.

"The commonality between the occupying Israeli forces and the Bashar al-Assad regime is killing civilians, and journalists, and destroying infrastructure. The wounds of the Palestinians are our wounds, their pain is our pain.”

The Palestinian enclave's press office said the slain journalists were Said al-Tavil, Muhammed Subh, Hisham en-Nawacihe, Ibrahim Lafi, Muhammed Cergun, Muhammed es-Salihi, Esad Shemlah and Selame Mime, and two other journalists, Nidal al-Vahidi and Heysem Abdulvahid, were unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, the houses of three journalists were completely destroyed and at least 40 media outlets were said to be the target of airstrikes.

In a dramatic escalation of Mideast tensions, Israeli forces have launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip, a response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began on Saturday when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air, which Hamas said was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

In response to Hamas' actions, the Israeli military launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip. Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan