Banksy Opens ‘Walled Off Hotel’ in Bethlehem as Political Statement on Palestine

 

The world’s most famous street artist, Banksy, has opened a new boutique hotel in Bethlehem with a stunning view — of the giant, concrete border wall separating Israel from the West Bank.

The enigmatic pot-stirrer dubbed his new creation, “the hotel with the worst view in the world.”

According to CNN, at the hotel’s opening, a press release from the artist told visitors:

“It’s exactly 100 years since Britain took control of Palestine and started re-arranging the furniture—with chaotic results….I don’t know why, but it felt like a good time to reflect on what happens when the United Kingdom makes a huge political decision without fully comprehending the consequences.”

The quote references the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which established a Jewish state on what was then Palestinian land. Banksy has put a statue of its author, former British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour, at the hotel’s entrance.

Per CNN, the “Walled Off Hotel” began to take shape over a year ago. Banksy designed most of the interiors himself, with the help of two other artists, who largely didn’t know the nature of the project they were working on (or their employer’s identity) until the project was completed.

Below, take a look inside the Walled Off Hotel.

An outside view of a hotel named “The Walled Off” in Bethlehem in the southern West Bank. (Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) A Banksy installation hangs above the booths in the lobby at street artist Banksy’s newly opened Walled Off hotel in the Israeli occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem (Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images)

—RealClearLife

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