In 2019 or 2020, a striking, graffiti-style mural appeared on North Claiborne Avenue near Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans. The skillfully crafted painting depicted two alluring eyes that seemed to focus on passing traffic. The spray-painted mural was signed You Go Girl, a pseudonym of one of the city’s best-known, anonymous street artists, who is also known as Hugo Gyrl.
Painted in 2020 or before, the N. Claiborne Avenue mural by street artist You Go Girl began as an alluring apolitical design.
On Oct. 7, 2023, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack against Israel that cost the lives of almost 1,200 Israelis and others. Twenty days later, the Israeli army invaded the Palestinian territory of Gaza in a war against Hamas that has resulted in the deaths of approximately 41,000 to date.
The ongoing war is just the latest clash in a seemingly continuous conflict between the factions.
In the months since the war began, graffiti popped up here and there across the city, expressing sympathy with both the Palestinian and Israeli causes — though pro-Palestinian slogans seemed to predominate.
Sometime during the period, You Go Girl revised the mural, with a new color palette that suggested the red, black, white and green tones of the Palestinian flag. The old mural now included a new message: “All Eyes on Gaza.” A photo of that version of the mural can be found on the hugogyrl Instgram feed.
The apparently pro-Palestinian mural survived for months, unmarked, until the first week of October, when a man appeared in the night and defaced the painting with an aerosol scribble that included almost illegible vulgarities and political references.
Caught on video by a passerby, the man made it clear that his action was a political response to the message of the mural, which he considered antisemitic. A video of the encounter can be found on the newtralgroundz Instagram feed.
In the video, the man is heard saying “Jews fight back, get used to it.” If the mural is repainted, he vowed, he’ll be back to ruin it again.
According to reporting by Verite news, the man seen blotting out the mural in the video is Jakob Schanzer, a medical student and pro-Israel activist. Schanzer’s recently posted a video on his Instagram feed in which he said “I recently went viral in my city of New Orleans for fighting antisemitism at the local level.”
Schanzer has also established a GoFundMe page soliciting “money to buy supplies and paint to clean up antisemitic graffiti all around the city of New Orleans.
In an email exchange on Thursday, You Go Girl described defacing his mural, as Schanzer had, “baby behavior.” If Schanzer “doesn’t like what I painted,” You Go Girl wrote, then “go paint your own mural, buddy.”
You Go Girl rejected the accusation of antisemitism, pointing out that he is half Jewish. “Being Jewish I think it’s important to draw attention to Gaza,” You Go Girl wrote, “because the state of Israel is trying to claim anyone who criticizes them is antisemitic.”
The mural continues to evolve. Since it was defaced, someone repainted the phrase “All Eyes on Gaza,” though not in the original style of the mural. “Supporters of the message of the mural have volunteered and fixed it up a few times already,” You Go Girl wrote. “Its amazing how supportive people have been, and shown so much love for the mural.”
Attempts to reach Schanzer for comment have, thus far, failed.
The tit-for-tat painting and repainting of the North Claiborne Avenue wall is a graffiti war that symbolizes an actual war. Ironically, the unintentional collaboration perfectly illustrates the faraway struggle.
What the public will make of this depends on the onlooker, of course. Arguably, all wars should be conducted with spray paint.
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