The signs of POP culture in palestinian graffiti: circulation and digital activism in perspective

Abstract

In the current Palestinian activism process, social networks are an important tool for the circulation, dissemination and collective engagement around images that guide the various demands for state autonomy, with an emphasis on the need to apply the norms proposed by Human Rights in these places. Several graffiti produced in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially in the West Bank, used elements from the North American pop culture repertoire, directly dialoguing with the Palestinian digital activism strategy. These expressions are applied in urban architecture, registered and, strategically, start to circulate in the virtual sphere, reaching potentially broad transnational audiences. Thus, this study aims to analyze the correlations between graffiti and Palestinian digital activism, understanding the way in which it is used, idealizing to reach and engage the international public in the Palestinian national cause. To do so, we started from an examination of the panorama of digital activism, establishing, from a specific example, the observation of the connection between graffiti and digital platforms. Next, we describe and analyze the graffiti that mobilize the signs of pop culture, emphasizing the ways in which such elements are mobilized in association with the Palestinian cause and demands. Therefore, we argue that the use of these elements in graffiti is strategic, enabling the transnational public to relate to Palestinian demands from their own aesthetic and discursive references.