A photograph of a young, shirtless protester in Gaza holding a Palestinian flag with one hand and swinging a slingshot over his head has gone viral, with the image being compared with the historical French Revolution painting, ‘Liberty Leading the People’, Al-Jazeera reported.
The image was taken on October 22 by Mustafa Hassouna of Turkey’s Anadolu Agency and has been retweeted over 5,000 times. The young boy has been identified as 20-year-old Palestinian A’ed Abu Amro who lives in al-Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza City.
“I was surprised this picture of me went viral,” he was quoted by AJ as having said. “I participate in protests on a weekly basis, sometimes more. I didn’t even know there was a photographer near me.”
When a Michelangelo with a camera captures David fighting Goliath in action.
Getty image by Mustafa Hassouna pic.twitter.com/MgJAbr7JwQ
— (((YousefMunayyer))) (@YousefMunayyer) October 24, 2018
“I don’t go to protests to get pictures of me taken, but this has encouraged me to continue demonstrating,” he said, AJ reported. “The flag I was carrying is the same one I always hold in all the other protests I’ve attended. My friends make fun of me, saying it is easier to throw rocks without holding a flag in the other hand, but I got used to it. If I get killed, I want to be wrapped in the same flag. We are demanding our right of return, and protesting for our dignity and the dignity of our future generation.”
Since March 30, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have demanding their right to return back from the homes they were expelled from 70 years ago along the border fence, dubbing it ‘The Great March of Return’.
Israeli forces have killed at least 205 Palestinians of which include journalists and paramedics, and have injured more than 18,000.
On Twitter, comparison sprouted between the ‘iconic’ image of Amro and the French Revolution and David vs Goliath and Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea who supports the Greeks against the Trojans in the Trojan War.
Ça me rappelle la Liberté guidant le peuple d’Eugène Delacroix.
Une image très puissante!!! pic.twitter.com/4zXNyoZWv4— Adam (@ATMology) October 24, 2018
Bernini’s David, 1623-24. pic.twitter.com/StjuTPEZms
— Owl (@UmmAlDunya) October 24, 2018
