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Banksy Unveils Nativity Scene ‘Scar of Bethlehem’ in West Bank

The work is installed at Banksy’s Walled-Off Hotel, where all the rooms face the barrier wall between Israel and the West Bank.

Banksy debuted his latest installation in the West Bank on Saturday: a manger scene propped up against what appears to be a portion of the barrier wall between Israel and Palestine. Titled Scar of Bethlehem, Jesus, Mary and Joseph are backlit through a mortar hole in the wall, which looks like the Christmas Star. Agence France-Presse reports that the work is installed at Banksy’s Walled-Off Hotel, where all rooms overlook a concrete section of the wall. “It is a nativity,” Wissam Salsaa, the hotel’s manager, told AFP after the piece was installed. “Banksy has his own contribution to Christmas. It is a great way to bring up the story of Bethlehem, the Christmas story, in a different way—to make people think more” of how Palestinians live in Bethlehem, he said. Salsaa called the Israeli wall a “scar” that should induce “shame in anyone who supported” its construction.