Fig.

As far as I can tell, the obliterated fingers do not alter the meaning
in any way, i.e. by blotting out the raised fingers, the second artist does not
apprear to have intentionally changed the original letter to another because
no sign language symbol exists for the new form.
By using a sign language: Hebrew alphabet translation chart and a little help
from a fluent Hebrew speaker, I was able to to discern this pieces meaning:
"?Or, in English, Listening? Like me, most passerby will literally not be
able to to understand this pieceand that is exactly the point. I start with this
piece because it represents the barriers to communication we experience
when we speak different languages, whether languages in the traditional
sense of the term, or languages in the sense of the vocabulary unique to
the world from which we come. The elements of word play, multiple
interpretations, and pointed commentary on the role of language in
perpetuating societal barriers are all themes we will continue to see in the
following examples of West Jerusalem graffiti.

Fig. 2

Following the previous tag to a new location, at a new time, we see

how graffiti, while sometimes fleeting and only momentarily relevant, can
also act as part of a larger campaign, extending throughout various places
and times to force city residents across multiple sectors to repeatedly reckon
with its message, therefore (hopefully) shifting the nature or direction of
public discourse.

Fig. 3 To illustrate the temporary property of graffiti, just under one year
later, I photographed the same wall, which is now covered in entirely new
graffiti. Thus, studying graffiti can also be similar to participating in an
archeological dig, surveying the images and writing that appear on the same
walls over a span of several years to learn more about which issues were
most salient for residents at different moments throughout that time period.
As Dovey et al. write: Graffiti is often layered like a palimpset with new work
responding to the work beneath it with transformed meanings and partial
erasures [8].
On this wall, passerby can see an amalgamation of political and religious
graffiti: on the left-hand side, there are two pieces of religiously-oriented
graffiti: the series of cascading triangles, and the injunction PRAY. Although
the meaning of the triangles is impossible to ascertain, there is a strong
possibility that they allude to the Kabbalistic conception of ten sephirot, or
attributes of G-d. Yet, because they leave off both the highest and lowest
emanations of G-d (the lowest being our physical world), the message could
be about the impossibility of actualizing perfection in our world.
Caesar to Caesarea: this piece features a print of Israeli Prime Minister
Benyamin (Bibi) Netanyahus head, framed by the words (translated): The
Caesar to Caesarea, referring to the northern Israeli city where Netanyahus
multi-million dollar private home is located. The bottom line: send him back
home, away from the seat of government in Jerusalem. This picture was taken
just ten days after the national elections, and was likely rendered in
anticipation of or in reaction to the results.

Fig. 4 Bibis face is captioned by the phrase: Its not you, its me. Just as
that line has heralded every romcom breakup ever, it seems that artist is also
ready to move on from Bibi, but in placing the line in Bibis voice, is able to
deflect the blame for the relationships end back onto the Prime Minister.
There are also interesting gender dynamics at work here; because the artist
has transplanted the famous phrase (stereotypically said by a woman to a
man) without altering the words to account for Bibis gender, the artist could
also be making a (not so subtle) dig at Bibis masculinity.

Fig. 5 This piece plays off of popular song lyrics by a renowned Israeli
singer, Eyal Golan, which proclaim: The one who believes is not afraid, and
uses the homonym of not to create the new meaning (in Hebrew, changing
to ). The song has reached unofficial national anthem status of sorts and
contains many themes of national unity, adding another layer of irony to the
graffitis anti-Netanyahu message.

Fig. 6 This phrase hearkens to a passage in the Talmud which states, kol
yisrael arevim zeh bazeh, roughly translated to mean: all of [the people]
Israel are responsible for one another (Babylonian Talmud Shavuot 39a).
However, because the last few words of the phrase have been left off, it can
also mean All of [the people] Israel are Arabs or All of Israel is responsible.
This is yet another example of the multiple conclusions passerby can reach in
reaction to the same piece; it is a piece whose meaning, at first glance,
seemed obvious to me, as someone who grew up with the traditional Jewish
teaching very much engrained within me. It was only upon further thought
and consideration that I stumbled upon the existence of alternate meanings.
This is the power of graffitito provoke thoughts that remain with the viewer
long after they walk away from the wall on which it is painted.

Fig. 7 This phrase, translated as Out of Gaza, came sweetness," is a play

on a line from Samson: Out of the strong, came forth sweetness (Judges
14:12). I am not entirely clear the perspective from which the artist is
coming, but I think this is another instance in which the investigation is
provoked is perhaps more valuable than knowing the specific intention of its
creator. In my research, I have seen this phrased used in multiple contexts,
from a messianic religious Zionist trying to console himself after the 2005
Israeli disengagement from Gaza to an initiative launched by the Israel
Defense Forces during this past summers war to send notes of appreciation
to the families of soldiers engaged in combat, accompanied by bars of
chocolatehence, the sweetness. On a more general note, it is another
instance of the close marriage between religion and politics in this city, where
biblical verses are transformed into political slogans relevant to modern
times.

Fig. 8 As Adam Heffez, who documented a similar slogan in his 2012 book
"Words & Walls: Social Commentary through Graffiti in Israel and the West
Bank," writes: This [piece] called attention to a controversial Israeli policy of
holding suspected Palestinian militants, as well as ultra-right-wing Kach

activists suspected of committing violence against Arabs, without charge

[9]. However, not everyone is on board with this criticism; Heffez records one
remark he overheard in reaction to the piece: Which breach is graver, rights
or security?" [10].

Fig. 9 By analyzing the text, which reads In Gaza and Sderot, girls want to
live, closely, it is apparent that the stencils lettering mirrors that found in
Figure 8, demonstrating that an individual or group is making a continuous
effort (spanning at least a year and a half, as documented by these pictures)
to publicize their political views within the city.

Fig. 10 The first line, in Hebrew, reads: Only Hebrew speakers can
understand me, and the second line, in Arabic, reads: Only Arabic speakers
can understand me. In Jerusalem, with its strong divides between East and
West, this statement is often totally true. A Palestinian will likely be required
to learn some basic Hebrew in their public schools, and/or enough colloquial
skills to work in the Israeli economy; however, the army might likely be the
only place where Israelis learn some basic Arabic. If language is the key to a
culture, this presents the two populations with yet another barrier to
understanding and working with each other. Like the two first pieces of sign
language signs we saw, this piece has a similar point: Israeli passerby will
most likely literally not understand the second statement; and a Palestinian
passerbyif theyre even in West Jerusalem to see thismight not have the
reading skills to understand whats written. It is within this mutual illiteracy
that the graffitis point lays.

Fig. 11 The orange writing in the middle reads: Derech eretz [civility]
precedes the Torah, while the writing above and below reads: if there is no
Torah, there is no derech eretz and without Torah, there is no derech eretz,
respectively. Given that the concept that two artists are discussingderech
eretzcomes from the first part of the Talmud (Mishna Avot 4:15), it is only
fitting that their interaction assumes the form of a Talmudic debate. The
orange writing is a common refrain seen throughout the city, and is likely
written by a resident exasperated with the control Jerusalems religious
population wields over the city. He or she is writing to remind passerbyof all
stripes, but given that 80% of the citys population identifies as traditional in
some way, a large proportion of viewers will be religiously-mindedthat the
way people treat each other is far more important than the religions sacred
text. For example, public transportation here does not run on Shabbat. The
second artist is not participating to negate the firsts argument entirely, but
rather adding the nuanced point that there wouldnt even be the concept of
derech eretz without the Torahfor it is the (oral) Torah that first coins this
phrase and mandates it as a virtue.

Fig. 12 Taken in the religiously diverse (and also heavily American)

neighborhood of Nachlaot, the meaning of this graffiti could be interpreted in
multiple ways. It could be a call by a member of the religious community to
the secular population of the neighborhood, encouraging them to abandon
the idolatrous ways of a secular life, or it could the reverse: a secular

resident (or even a non-Hasidic religious person) criticizing the heavy fixation
on the land of Israel within neo-Hasidism, a strand of Judaism with a strong
presence in the neighborhood. Or, as always, it could be none of the above.

Fig. 13 An identical image (i.e. same stencil, same location) appears in

Heffezs book. As he explains, it is a reference to Walter Sobchaks character
in the popular film The Big Lebowski and suggests that it could have been
drawn by a secular Jew, frustrated with the power of the Orthodox in the city
and critiquing the religious communitys need to militantly defend the
peacefulness of Shabbat [11].

Fig. 14 Found outside a popular bar amongst young American students

studying in Jerusalme during their gap year, this column is filled with
anarchistic messages (Fuck the law, follow no rule but self-rule, Anarchy,
Peace, Love, Anarchy is every mans [sic] right, no man is right [to?]
interfere, G-d=summation of every molecule. Past=non-existent except in
memory. Destiny=path laid [sic] out by the past. Action=Ability to override
destiny to create new fate, and Satan love me) alongside outlines of the
Kabbalistic concepts of Chaya, Neshama, and Yedida. I cant help but wonder
how many yeshiva and seminary students, in a slightly drunken stupor, have
wandered past this wall and whether its comments have influenced their
studies or their thinking during their time in Jerusalem, if at all.

Fig. 15 Scattered around the city is this common colloquial phrase: hakol
beseder, or everythings okay. Again, this is one of those pieces where the
viewers reactions and interactions with the piece are perhaps more
important than the original intent of the artist. The pieces have been
appearing since at least 2013 (perhaps earlier but that is the earliest
documentation I was able to find), and have spanned two national elections,
one war, and the countless other current events that dot the landscape of life
in Israel, and particularly in Jerusalem. It is difficult to know what, if any,
event spurred their creation, or if they are meant to be an all-encompassing
response to whatever is in the newsbecause something always is. In this
particular instance, another artist has come along and added a question mark
to the end of the phrase, transforming what was once a statement
(everything is okay) into a question (is everything okay?).

Fig. 16 In this iteration, someone has added the Hebrew word for no ()
to the phrase, so it reads: Everything is not okay.

Fig. 17 Another example of a second person adding a question mark to the

end of the phrase so it becomes a question, rather than a statement.

Fig. 18 In response to the statement, someone has drawn a skull and

crossbones, accompanied by the popular slang word for really? (?).

Fig. 19 Finally, the last iteration presented here has been left without
pronounced editorial additions, yet someone has included the cascading

triangle symbol seen earlier (Fig. 3). Besides seeming to function as a arrow
saying, here look at this!if its possible Kabbalistic meaning is in fact true,
perhaps its reminding passerby that, given the impossibility of creating a
perfect human world, things are by and large okay.