Defacing of Bridge of Remembrance As Free Palestine Protests Continue
Fresh graffiti has been found on the bridge, as the Council and contractor Intergroup struggle to remove it.
Fresh messages of support for Gaza have been added to the Bridge of Remembrance, some three weeks after the last round of graffiti. The previous round included the epithet “Fuck Israel” and other Anti-Israel and Pro-Palestine slogans.
11 December 2023
The bridge holds a special significance to the city as a memorial to soldiers who served in some of the world’s largest conflicts. The bridge was closed for a reported $6.7 million upgrade and reopened on Anzac Day in 2016.
The council has faced an uphill battle previously to remove graffiti from the limestone columns and the chalk drawings have also proven a challenge for the contractor Intergroup.
The new messages include “Free Gaza”, “Free Palestine” and “Al Nakba”. The latter (which translates from Arabic as “catastrophe”) refers to the 1948 expulsion of Palestinians from their homes at the hands of those seeking to establish the Jewish state of Israel.
It also appears to be drawing a comparison with the displacement of more than an estimated 2 million Palestinians during the current Gaza war that has engulfed the narrow strip of land bordering the Mediterranean. The bloodshed that has erupted following the commencement of Hamas’s savage 7 October assault on border towns, a rave party, and elsewhere in Israel, has spawned a global protest movement that has also been active in New Zealand’s main centres.
11 December 2023
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