Voice and silence in linguistic landscapes: political graffiti and the commemoration of Shireen Abu Akleh

Situated at the intersection of the visual and verbal, graffiti serves as an artistic form of political expression, offering marginalized communities a means to assert their voices in the public sphere. Often associated with pride, defiance, and resistance, graffiti functions as a potent tool for the disenfranchised to challenge dominant narratives and reclaim space. This article examines graffiti created in response to the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while covering an Israeli military raid in Jenin refugee camp. Following her death, Palestinians used graffiti as a form of remembrance and resistance, transforming walls into canvases of collective grief and political defiance. One such tribute was painted by a Palestinian-Israeli artist. The Israeli authorities ordered its removal, an act of erasure that sought to silence both personal and collective mourning and identification. In defiance of this suppression, the artist repainted the mural, resisting the forced obliteration of Palestinian identity in public spaces and reaffirming her right to public expression. Visual analysis of the artwork and content analysis of the artist’s interview in local media against the concept of sumud (steadfastness) highlight themes of anger, defiance against censorship, solidarity, reclamation of public space, and a deep affirmation of Palestinian identity. By centering the mural’s creation, destruction, and recreation, the study highlights the enduring power of graffiti as a medium of resistance, one that refuses erasure and ensures that voices silenced in life continue to speak in death.