Gaza Is Not a Flag to Wave

On Art, Sensitization, and the Illusion of the Gesture

We live in a world where every crisis risks becoming a digestible narrative, something we can share, comment on, almost market. In recent months, the image of Gaza has gained immense symbolic power, but also dangerous ambiguity. Are we truly closer to the Palestinian cause, or have we simply found the new “right hashtag” to feel involved?

In this piece, I want to speak as an artist, a communicator, and a witness of our digital age. My question is unsettling but necessary: When does art stop sensitizing and start commercializing suffering?

Gaza as the Tip of the Iceberg: A Conflict That Reveals Global Power

Gaza is not just a war zone. It's a cruel but accurate lens through which we can read today's global power dynamics: memory management, cultural access, the value of a human life depending on where it is lived.

To say “Gaza” today is not only to name a tragedy, it’s to evoke a global structure of domination. Gaza is the tip of the iceberg that hides a massive body underneath: colonialism, Western silence, economic censorship, and the erasure of cultural identity. Every destroyed museum, every burned-down library, every scattered archive is a blow to the collective memory of a people.

The Aesthetics of Suffering: When Solidarity Becomes Spectacle

And this is where my discomfort begins. As an artist, I can’t ignore how often creative languages reduce tragedy to aesthetic symbol: posters, reels, slogans, quick installations that go viral but often lack depth, understanding, or continuity.

I ask myself: Are we really listening, or just admiring our reflection as we pretend to?

There’s a big difference between art that emerges from a difficult, honest relationship with reality, and art that simply uses a trending topic as a launchpad.

The Western Art World: Selective Ethics and the Politics of Silence

If you work in art or culture, you know this truth: some causes are safe, others are radioactive. Open support for Ukraine? Often welcome in festivals and institutions. Palestine? It can cost you funding, visibility, exhibitions.

So artists, curators, festivals face a choice: remain silent or treat the topic in a symbolic, palatable way, abstracted enough not to cause discomfort.But that comes at a price: we lose authenticity.

Art in Gaza: No Sponsors, No Stage, Just Memory

Meanwhile, art continues to exist within Gaza. Not in galleries, but in ruins. Local artists create with what they have: sacks of flour, broken bricks, remnants of daily life.They don’t seek visibility. They seek memory. They’re not building “projects”; they’re performing acts of cultural survival.

This art doesn’t win prizes. It doesn’t trend. But it’s real.And maybe that’s what makes it so hard to digest for those of us on the outside, used to polished narratives and “engaged” aesthetics.

Conclusion: Are We Ready to Listen—Without Speaking First?

This is not a moralistic rant. It’s a personal reflection and an invitation to question our intentions.There’s nothing wrong in wanting to raise awareness, create, take part. But solidarity is not a visual style. And art, to have any power, must move something inside, not just generate applause or reach.

So when we see Gaza, what are we really seeing?A people fighting for survival, or a mirror reflecting our own need to feel good, righteous, aware?

Maybe true awareness begins the moment we stop trying to extract value from other people’s pain, even symbolically.Maybe it’s time to hit reset, like in a Black Mirror episode, and ask ourselves:

What’s left when the screen goes dark?

Thanks for listening!!! As ever comment tell me what do you think about I would love to hear your opinion and share