Street artist Jorit Agoch arrested in West Bank, Naples mobilizes

Renowned Dutch-Italian street artist Jorit Agoch was arrested yesterday in Bethlehem, West Bank(Palestine), where he was executing a mural depicting Ahed Tamimi, the 17-year-old Palestinian girl arrested last December for slapping an Israeli soldier (and who has since become a heroine and symbol of the Palestinians’ struggle against Israel: incidentally, the young woman was released just this morning). Along with Jorit, one of his collaborators was also arrested: the charge against the two is that of damaging and defacing the so-called Israeli separation barrier, the long wall that runs between Israel and the West Bank, which has already been the subject of actions by international writers in the past (including Banksy, who has made several drawings on the Israeli wall).

Jorit is famous for his murals that decorate several buildings in Naples, and now the Neapolitan community, led by the mayor of Quarto (the municipality where Jorit resides), is mobilizing to ask the Israeli authorities for his release: the case is being followed by the Farnesina, which, reads a note, “in close liaison with the Consulate General in Jerusalem and the Embassy in Tel Aviv, has been following with the utmost attention, since the beginning, the case of the two Italians detained in Bethlehem, to whom it is giving every possible assistance, in contact with the local Authorities and the families.” The Italian Consul, the note further reads, went to the place where the two Italians are detained, together with the Consulate’s legal counsel.

In Naples, meanwhile, a demonstration has already taken place during which about 250 people called for freedom for Jorit Agoch.

Pictured: Jorit Agoch while executing the mural dedicated to Ahed Tamimi, before being captured by Israeli authorities.

Street artist Jorit Agoch arrested in West Bank, Naples mobilizes