The cry of 'Free Palestine' in murals in Manizales and Villamaría

Photos | Freddy Arango | LA PATRIA A mural located on Avenida Alberto Mendoza in Manizales, near the El Trébol urbanization, refers to the pain suffered by the civilian population in the war in Gaza.

Free Palestine is the cry that can be read on the walls of Manizales and Villamaría.

Juan Felipe Casas, known artistically as Migratono, has painted three of the seven walls that LA PATRIA managed to locate during a tour.

"There are several groups in Manizales that are working and reacting to a movement that has been brewing in much of Latin America that is in favor of declaring Palestine as a state and guaranteeing its rights. It is a somewhat fluctuating issue in the city, some are in favor and others against, dividing us as a society, we are simply on the side of peace," said Juan Felipe.

Murals in graffiti, aerosol and vinyl show a political position regarding the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

"It is not a war, it is a genocide. They have been subjecting a people to multiple wars for many years that we here in Latin America are trying to overcome. We believe in a possible peace throughout the world, that these actions should not take place in any country of the world". Juan Felipe Casas points out.

Photos | Freddy Arango | HOMELAND

This mural located next to the Villamaría coliseum shows symbols and colors of Palestine, the watermelon and the sun bird.

"The watermelon became their symbol when Palestinian artists searched for an identity in the 70s and 80s. Israel was denying them their rights as a state and it was forbidden to display the flag. The artists began to look for how to recognize their symbol and realized that "The watermelon had all the colors of their flag: red, black, green and white, and they began to paint works with this fruit and thus manage to disperse its seeds throughout the world," says the artist Migratono.

At the University of Caldas, block U of the Bicentenario campus, in one of the hallways the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for control of the historical region of Palestine is present, which dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.

In the central hall of the National University Palogrande headquarters, the phrase "your fight is my fight" is read, which stands out among the banners of student rejection of the appointment of Ismael Peña as rector.

Palestinians have spent decades seeking an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, territories taken by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. This situation is present in the daily activities of students at the University of Caldas, in a mural in one of the central patios of the Bicentenario headquarters.

"The streets have dynamics that are a little violent. I finished the mural at the entrance to Villamaría and a graffiti artist came to say that the wall was his, and the next day he came to paint and covered half of it. I want to leave it like this because also says something. It is someone who is standing over Gaza, who does not understand or reflect." expresses the author who asked not to give his name.