Spray the Hope

Is it wrong to use one of the greatest injustices of the 21st century as a vehicle for horrible self-promotion? Probably. In fact, undoubtedly. But there are some opportunities in this world that are just too great to pass up – and spraying something suitably anarchic on the Apartheid Wall that carves through the West Bank, stealing land and destroying lives as it does so, was for us just such an opportunity.

When Tamara Nouri, a distinguished fine artist who spends an awful lot of time in the NOX office being nice to agents of Lebanese singers and Egyptian actresses just to get the vague promise of an interview, said she was going to Jerusalem and did we want anything, we had an idea. “Yeah,” we said, with the morning’s seventh coffee clearly clouding our judgment, “could you write something on the wall for us?” And just as Tamara’s eyes glazed over with a “you can’t be serious” look, we had come up with our message – glib, self-serving but with a sufficiently universal theme to work on the wall.

And so Tamara agreed, and even roped in the help of Saad Halawani, who actually works for the British Council in Ramallah. Two days later, they were in the town together, and having taken in Yasser Arafat’s grave, they arrived at the mahsoum (road block) near Kalandiya – where the wall has become an NYC subway car of what they generously call “urban art”. “I found an empty spot by a big gate not far from the checkpoint,” says Tamara, “and despite it being so close to the military stations, there was absolutely no one around. I paused to ask Saad whether this was okay, and he just shrugged, ‘No one can stop you.’ So, out came the spray cans.”

The spraying took about 20 minutes – not least as they tried and failed with some cool typography – and as the sun was beginning to set over the Mediterranean, we had a bold statement etched across the wall. “NOX mag: Sarcasm knows no boundaries” is now a permanent reminder of our bold, fearless journalism, our frankly juvenile sense of humour, and also, and much more importantly, a vile Israeli policy that really deserves to be belittled in every conceivable way.

Thankfully, none of the soldiers on the checkpoint, which was blocking the way back through to Jerusalem, were checking for paint under the fingernails of those passing through. Although judging by the closed shops opposite – the often overlooked economic victims of the barrier – it seems the Israelis couldn’t give a damn about what happens on this side of the wall. After all, they don’t have to look at it all day.

Let’s just hope our impromptu billboard isn’t around for too much longer. Brevity, as they say, is the soul of wit.