Claim: An artwork showing a Palestinian journalist nailed to a cross was created by Banksy.
Fact: The visual was created by Hassan Ragab, an Egyptian artist who uses artificial intelligence in his artwork, to highlight the killing of close to 100 journalists in Gaza since 7 October.
On 6 February 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user @JerryHicksUnite posted (archive) a picture showing a person wearing a press vest and helmet, with cameras around his neck and in his hand, nailed to a cross. The image was accompanied by the caption:
“Banksy on murder of journalists in Gaza #Gaza #Israel #CeasefireNOW #journalists”
According to preliminary investigations by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a press freedom watchdog, “at least 95 journalists and media workers” have been killed as of 13 March 2024 in Israel’s war against Hamas that started on 7 October 2023. The CPJ added that 16 journalists were reported injured, four missing, and 25 arrested.
On the other hand, experts at the United Nations (UN) claim that “over 122 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, and many have been injured” since the 7 October attack.
“We condemn all killings, threats and attacks on journalists and call on all parties to the conflict to protect them,” they said. “Three journalists in Lebanon were killed as a result of Israeli shelling near the border of Lebanon. Four Israeli journalists were killed by Hamas in the 7 October attacks. Dozens of Palestinian journalists have been detained by Israeli forces in both Gaza and in the West Bank where harassment, intimidation and attacks on journalists have increased since the 7 October attacks.”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image but did not find any authentic report of Banksy, a renowned British street artist and activist, creating such an artwork.
We also checked Banksy’s Instagram account, which has amassed over 12.3 million followers, but found no indication that the artist produced the visual. Plus, his last post on the social media platform is from 22 December 2023.
However, Soch Fact Check came across an Instagram post by journalist Samira Mohyeddin, who credited “conceptual artist Hassan Ragab” as the person who created the artwork.
In the comments under the viral X post, we found two responses — here and here — that suggested the artwork was, in fact, generated by artificial intelligence (AI) by Hassan Ragab, a California-based Egyptian architect and artist. The first response contains a screenshot of Ragab’s post from Instagram, while the second shares the link to his tweet from 25 December 2023.
We found the visual on Ragab’s Instagram account here; in its caption, the artist wrote:
View this post on Instagram
“THIS IS A DIGITAL ARTWORK CREATED USING AI. NOT A REAL PHOTO. Please be mindful if you decide to repost.”
Explaining their artwork, Ragab wrote, “It is estimated now that 100 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7th. This is a record number for any country in terms of killing journalists in a year. These journalists are the only reason why we know what’s happening in Gaza. The absence of journalists often means the absence of truth.”
Later, Ragab quoted the viral X post and wrote, “I don’t know how to feel about this…. but I love Banksy, so no hard feelings!!”
An official body set up to authenticate artwork by Banksy called Pest Control told Reuters that “the image has nothing to do with the artist”.
Virality
The post by @JerryHicksUnite has gained more than 232,500 views as of writing time.
Soch Fact Check found the claim shared here, here, here, and here on X.
On Facebook, it was shared here, here, here, here, and here. We found the earliest instance of the false caption here on 12 January 2024.
Conclusion: An artwork showing a Palestinian journalist nailed to a cross was not created by Banksy. The visual was created by Hassan Ragab, an Egyptian artist who uses artificial intelligence in his artwork, to highlight the killing of close to 100 journalists in Gaza since 7 October.
Background image in cover photo: Nicolas J Leclercq
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