My attention was drawn today to this poem by Yehuda Amichai, the Israeli poet who died in September 2000.
On a roof in the Old City
laundry hanging in the late afternoon sunlight:
the white sheet of a woman who is my enemy,
the towel of a man who is my enemy,
to wipe the sweat of his brow.
In the sky of the Old City
a kite.
At the other end of the string,
a child
I can’t see
because of the wall.
We have put up many flags,
they have put up many flags.
To make us think that they’re happy.
To make them think that we’re happy.
From Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems, Sheep Meadow Press
Banksy recently visited the West Bank and painted the Israeli “security wall”
This mural marks the spot where over 40 people were killed during the first Intafada (the little holes along the top are from bullets). While Banksy was painting it a lot of people came over, some to shake his hand and others telling him to go away. After Banksy had left the piece was completed by the local kids.
The Israeli government is building a wall surrounding the occupied Palestinian territories. It stands three times the height of the Berlin Wall and will eventually run for over 700km – the distance from London to Zurich. The wall is illegal under international law and essentially turns Palestine into the world’s largest open prison.”
– Banksy
Spray can prankster tackles Israel’s security barrier: Guardian August 2005
Banksy and the Wall: Channel 4 News
See also
That's How The Light Gets In 