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# Banksy Hotel in Occupied West Bank Shutters
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/banksy-hotel-in-occupied-west-bank-shutters/
- Published: 2023-12-21T20:20:12.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:09:12.000Z
- Description: The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, founded by the street artist to criticize Israel’s violence against Palestinians, is temporarily closing as Israeli attacks in the region continue.
- Author: Elaine Velie
- Tags: News, Banksy, Palestine, West Bank, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-large, #Import 2025-11-24 09:29 (2023, 2024, part 1)

Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem has closed amid Israel's ongoing assaults on Palestine, which have killed more than [20,000](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/20/gaza-death-toll-surpasses-20000-as-un-security-council-delays-vote-on-aid?ref=hyperallergic.com#:~:text=At%20least%2020%2C000%20people%20have,Media%20Office%20said%20on%20Wednesday.) people in Gaza and hundreds in the Occupied West Bank where the hotel is located. The three-star establishment houses Banksy artworks in its rooms and lobby and directly faces the [illegal](https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-184128/?ref=hyperallergic.com) [wall](https://apnews.com/article/politics-middle-east-jerusalem-israel-west-bank-2ce5d9956b729ad6169c880d00068977?ref=hyperallergic.com) that has facilitated what many organizations describe as a system of [apartheid](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/?ref=hyperallergic.com) in the region since its construction over two decades ago. Banksy has [painted](https://www.theguardian.com/arts/pictures/0,,1543331,00.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) several works denouncing Israeli violence on the over 443-mile-long barrier, and the Walled Off Hotel boasts the self-proclaimed “[worst view in the world](https://hyperallergic.com/476477/the-signature-dish-at-banksys-bethlehem-hotel-is-the-walled-off-salad-hold-the-mayo/).”

"Due to major developments in the region we have with regret chosen to close the hotel for the time being," the hotel said in an Instagram [statement](https://www.instagram.com/p/CyGGCXVsSTO/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D&ref=hyperallergic.com). "We will post updates here as the situation evolves."

Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus situated six miles south of Jerusalem, has long served as a pilgrimage destination. Tourists must pass through an Israeli military checkpoint to get to the city; Palestinians need a special[ permit](https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/11/middleeast/west-bank-restrictions-violence-intl-cmd/index.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) to leave. Israel has continuously constructed settlements in the West Bank, and even before the October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers, this year had proven the deadliest in history for the occupied territory, with [at least 483 Palestinians](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/12/12/know-their-names-palestinians-killed-by-israel-in-the-occupied-west-bank-2?ref=hyperallergic.com) killed there.

Among other amenities, the [highly rated](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel%5FReview-g293978-d12220602-Reviews-The%5FWalled%5FOff%5FHotel-Bethlehem%5FWest%5FBank.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) Walled Off Hotel includes a British colonial-themed lobby bar with "[an air of undeserved authority](https://walledoffhotel.com/facilities.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)," according to its website, that serves tea and scones beneath hanging depictions of cherubs with oxygen masks. A Classical-style sculpture choking on teargas looks over the scene. The hotel’s gallery features the work of local artists, and a museum and bookstore are dedicated to the history of the barrier steps away from the museum’s front doors.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/12/hotel_2.jpg)

The hotel's lobby

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/12/hotel_3.jpg)

The British colonial-themed lobby bar

The Walled Off Hotel [opened](https://hyperallergic.com/363167/a-visit-to-banksys-new-hotel-in-bethlehem/) in 2017, the 100-year anniversary of [Britain’s Balfour Declaration](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/11/2/more-than-a-century-on-the-balfour-declaration-explained?ref=hyperallergic.com) that stated the nation’s intention to create a homeland for Jewish people in Palestine. Banksy held a satirical [“apology" tea party](https://hyperallergic.com/409250/banksy-throws-apology-tea-party-for-palestinians-in-bethlehem/) for Palestinians timed with the United Kingdom's formal celebration of its century-old proclamation.

Among other artworks, Banksy created a 2019 sculpture for the hotel titled "[Scar of Bethlehem](https://hyperallergic.com/534747/banksy-unveils-a-political-interpretation-of-the-nativity-scene-in-bethlehem/)," a nativity scene below a segment of concrete wall perforated with what looks like a star-shaped remnant of an explosion. A decade earlier, Banksy painted a rat holding a slingshot on an abandoned Israeli military outpost close to the nearby barrier. The work was [reported](https://hyperallergic.com/752817/banksy-west-bank-mural-appears-in-tel-aviv/) in a Tel Aviv art gallery last summer, and the Palestinian Tourism Ministry denounced the transport as a "theft of the property of the Palestinian people."

The Walled Off Hotel has not responded to *Hyperallergic's* inquiry into the status of the establishment's art collection, its staff, or its plans for reopening. Banksy's representative organization Pest Control has not replied to a request for comment.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/12/hotel_4.jpg)

The check-in desk