This comic is part of a series titled "Gaza: Europe's Right-Wing Moment," produced by Febrayer Network in collaboration with Al-Jumhuriya and SyriaUntold.

This is a true story. Story and Art: Rita Adib

Israel began its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023. At the time, I was living on Sonnenallee, Berlin’s Arab Street – or more specifically, I was on the ground floor of a building overlooking it. This meant I could see and hear everything up close.

Flags, graffiti, and keffiyehs started appearing all over the city, especially on my street, and with them came increased police violence, racism, and stricter law enforcement. On October 19, 2023, someone anonymously painted a Palestinian flag on the wall of my building.

Since I’m interested in public art, I spontaneously photographed it – and without intending to, I found myself documenting a year-long graffiti combat between two sides: those supporting Palestine and those determined to erase it.

One night, after the phrase “Long live the resistance!” was written on the wall, it seems the police decided to step up their involvement. A patrol actually knocked on my door to ask: “Who owns this building, and who is responsible for the graffiti?”.

In the end, the wall of my building became plastered with drawings that were far more concerned with erasing the existence of Palestine than with artistic expression in public spaces. But Berlin has plenty of walls, and Palestine will continue to exist on them – especially since the genocide, which we all thought had stopped, has resumed.