Artists express solidarity with Palestinian resistance on Land Day

AMMAN — In celebration of Land Day, three local artists on Wednesday showcased their work to express solidarity with and celebrate Palestinian resistance over the years.

In an exhibition held at the University of Jordan’s (UJ) deanship of student affairs, the artists shared their paintings on the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Visual Artist Raed Qatnani, who has been practising art for more than 35 years, said the celebration of Land Day is “symbolic” and that land should be celebrated on a daily basis.

“Palestine and Al Aqsa should be remembered every day. It is a humanitarian duty for people of all walks of life,” he said.

Land Day commemorates the events of March 30, 1976 when a general strike and marches were organised in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev after the Israeli government announced a plan to expropriate thousands of dunums of Palestinian land.

As an Arab artist, Qatnani believes art is a way to “deliver a message” and to “keep the memory of the land alive”.

“Not everyone has the time to attend lectures and to have political awareness. Paintings leave a quick impression in the minds of the viewers,” the artist told The Jordan Times. 

Artist Ibrahim Ali said his work acquired a Palestinian identity over the years, as the conflict between Palestinians and “the settlers” grew.

“The Palestinian cause is the basis of justice on Earth; those who believe in this cause believe in global justice,” he told The Jordan Times.

Ali is known for his ink technique and political collages, depicting the struggle of Palestinians.

“In my paintings, I try to focus more on how Palestinians are arrested and their freedom is restricted at all levels,” he said.

When the 2014 Israeli aggression on Gaza started, the artist felt the need to document the lives of Palestinians under siege. 

“I used to adopt the arrest of Palestinians as my theme. But then I realised, as the aggression started, that people are experiencing death up-close. My work is more of a documentation of the Palestinian experience,” Ali told The Jordan Times. 

He added that the Palestinian struggle is a “sensitive case” and artists have to be careful when tackling it so as not to commercialise it.

For Lateef Fityani, a cartoonist, being a student at UNRWA schools for Palestinian refugees in Jordan was a constant reminder of the displacement of Palestinians.

“It is your choice to use your talent in whichever way you prefer to serve the cause you are fighting for,” he said.

“As a Palestinian refugee, you are supposed to utilise what you own in order to deliver your message… if you have an artistic talent and you have a cause, start raising awareness,” Fityani told The Jordan Times.

“They [Israelis] previously assumed that when the older generation dies, the younger generation will forget about Palestine. We have to always remember our land and never forget where we came from,” the artist assered.

“Through art you say: I am a Jordanian from Jerusalem — this is what you stand for, a stolen land and a cause that will never die.”

Commenting on the exhibition, which continues through Monday, Sami Eteilat, from UJ's cultural activities office, said images speak louder than other means.

“Art is a universal language… Some people don’t spend much time reading the news. The world is a village; images depict reality,” he said.