Banksy film shows new graffiti project in Gaza

"Development opportunities are everywhere" and there is "plenty of scope for refurbishment," the subtitles say.

Graffiti by British street artist Banksy in Beit Hanoun in Gaza (photo credit: REUTERS)
Graffiti by British street artist Banksy in Beit Hanoun in Gaza
(photo credit: REUTERS)
LONDON - The anonymous but eminent British street artist known as Banksy has posted a mini-documentary on his banksy.co.uk site showing squalid conditions in Gaza six months after the end of the war between the enclave's Islamist Hamas rulers and Israel.
The two-minute documentary was posted on Thursday and, like many of Banksy's murals and other art, is politically charged and whimsical at the same time. It starts off with a view of clouds from an airplane window while text on the screen says "Make this the year you discover a new destination."
That destination is Gaza, which the film, using mostly text rather than narration, says is hemmed in on "four sides" by its "friendly neighbors" the Israelis. The film fails to mention that Egypt also borders the Gaza Strip.
Development opportunities are everywhere" and there is "plenty of scope for refurbishment," the subtitles say.
On his website, Banksy says that during the filming a local man had asked him what the meaning was of the kitten. "I explained (that) I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website -- but on the Internet people only look at pictures of kittens."
Banksy is mostly known for his street art that often commands prices of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but also has produced several films, including the feature-length "Exit Through the Gift Shop" in 2010.