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| The funeral procession of Nour Hatem Zahra. Photo courtesy NPR |
NPR: A Syrian Graffiti Artist, Defiant Until Death
They called him "the spray man" for his graffiti that appeared all over the Syrian capital of Damascus. But in truth, 23-year-old Nour Hatem Zahra was an activist like any other activist.
He started protesting in Syria last spring. Back then, the opposition thought it would only take a few months to get rid of President Bashar Assad, as it had in Tunisia and Egypt.
Then Syrian forces started killing protesters, detaining them, torturing them. And the people started fighting back.
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| A stencil from the Facebook gallery of Freedom Graffiti Week |
Mediaoriente: Drawing freedom on Syria's walls- a tribute to "spray man" Nour Hatem Zahra
The graffiti artist, a member of the peaceful resistance movement in Damascus, was killed. He was buried today in Kafer Sousah, in Damascus. Syrian activist Hamaecho took these pictures at his funeral.
Graffiti and wall paintings have played an important role in communicating peaceful opposition to the Syrian regime.
But not everyone in the Middle East agrees...
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| Photo by The National |
The National: Graffiti annoys Dubai residents
"It is not art," said Kevin Mullarkey, a Dubai-based architect, after he found graffiti on one of the bridges leading from Dubai Marina to the Jumeirah Beach Residences.
"It is sheer and utter destruction of public property. The first thing that greets visitors in Paris is the tremendous amount of graffiti. Paris has beautiful sculptures and they are constantly defaced," he noted.
A portion of the bridge's sides were repainted after Mr Mullarkey registered a complaint with the area's developer.
Next, in New York City...
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| Image courtesy of FOX9 |
FOX9: Graffiti on city hall gates
Vandals tagged at least two support pillars that hold up the gates outside of New York City Hall.
Someone spray-painted "NYPD get your hands off me" above two hands prints. The part of the fence is near the Park Row side of the building.
It's unclear when the graffiti was painted in the heavily monitored area of Lower Manhattan.
But in fact it's not unclear at all...
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| Photo of Bobby Constantino from The Crown, Constantino's blog. |
Courthouse News Service: Former Prosecutor Wins Hard-Earned City Hall Graffiti Charges
Now a resident of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Constantino sent a letter to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg dated April 29, demanding that his administration immediately reform stop-and-frisk policies or face a "lobby-in" in City Hall.
Around 3 a.m. the next day, Constantino says he dressed up in his best courtroom attire and walked from Brooklyn to Manhattan, carrying a graffiti stencil and spray paint, to leave a message that he believed Bloomberg could not ignore.
For a few hours, until officials scrubbed off the graffiti, the gates of City Hall sported two handprints below the text, "NYPD Get Your Hands Off Me."
And finally, just for kicks, from Canada:
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| Images courtesy of CBC News |
CBC News: Graffiti tagger rescued from Ottawa River (video)
The constables spotted three people tagging near an old train bridge just west of downtown Sunday evening.
Two of the taggers were caught quickly but one man in his early 20s tried to escape by jumping into the river.
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"This time of year the water is typically between five and ten degrees celcius," said firefighter Steve Staye. "It's too cold to swim. [If] you're in the water you'll find within a couple of minutes you are going to find you lose function in your hands and legs and you lose the ability to swim."
Remember to play safe, kids!