A mural dedicated to Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were tragically murdered by Hamas terrorists during the October 7, 2023, attacks, was defaced in Milan, Italy, during a memorial service for the victims of the attack. The artwork, created by contemporary pop artist and activist AleXsandro Palombo, was installed outside the Qatari consulate and featured the face of Shiri, with her children depicted in a poignant manner. Palombo described the vandalism as an antisemitic act, disguised as activism, and criticized the normalization of hatred through visual gestures. He linked the incident to the growing influence of Islamic fundamentalism in Milan, a city he believes should represent openness and civic awareness. The defacement, which included obscuring Shiri’s face and adding a red bullseye and ‘No War’ text, is part of a pattern of vandalism against Palombo’s murals, which also honor Holocaust survivors. Palombo emphasized the importance of preserving such art as a form of resistance, stating that vandalism does not weaken it but rather reinforces its necessity.
The murals are part of Palombo’s broader commitment to commemorating historical events and victims of violence, including works dedicated to Holocaust survivors such as Sami Modiano, Liliana Segre, and Edith Bruck. All of these artworks have faced vandalism in recent years, which Palombo attributes to a growing wave of ideological attacks. In 2024, just hours after unveiling a mural dedicated to Nova Festival survivor Vlada Patapov, the artwork was damaged, underscoring the persistent threat to his artistic and memorial projects. Palombo, though not Jewish himself, has faced antisemitic insults and death threats for the past three years, which he says are a direct result of the ideological battles surrounding his work. Despite the risks, he remains resolute, viewing every defacement as an affirmation of the need to preserve such art and resist ideological erasure.
Palombo’s criticism of the ideological underpinnings of the vandalism extends to the political left, which he accuses of legitimizing extremist pro-Palestinian factions that do not advocate for peace but instead propagate hatred. He argues that these factions exploit the suffering of Palestinians, undermining the rights of the Palestinian people and promoting the propaganda of Hamas. This criticism aligns with broader debates about the role of political activism in perpetuating or combating extremism. The defacement of the Bibas family mural, which was initially created by Vancouver street artist iHeart with a depiction of a boy addicted to digital feedback and crying over Instagram likes, further highlights the tension between artistic expression and ideological confrontation. The mural’s alterations, which included the red bullseye and ‘No War’ text, represent an attempt to obscure the specific and painful memory of the Bibas family, replacing it with a generic, emotionally charged image that Palombo believes mocks and manipulates the memory for ideological purposes.
The incident reflects a larger pattern of antisemitic attacks in Europe, where vandalism and acts of ideological erasure continue to challenge efforts to preserve historical and memorial art. Palombo’s stance against such acts is not only a personal defense of his work but also a broader critique of the normalization of hatred and the erosion of public memory. For Palombo, the defacement of the Bibas mural is not just a physical act but a symbolic one, representing the struggle to maintain the integrity of historical memory in the face of ideological attacks. His resilience in the face of such threats underscores the ongoing battles to protect historical narratives and the voices of those who have suffered in the name of political and cultural causes.