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WALLEDOFFHOTEL.COM; MAX TOUHEY
From the vandalised oil paintings and statues choking on tear gas fumes in the Piano Bar to Elton John playing for the opening party (remotely, broadcast over a modest TV screen), this new West Bank hotel has Banksy’s dystopian stamp all over it.
Bedrooms overlook Israel’s infamous separation wall; its neighbour is the Aida refugee camp. The artist paid for the ‘installation’, which will function as a bona fide hotel during what it’s calling the Centenary Year (2017 marks 100 years since the British took control of Palestine, with its ensuing century of conflict). It has since been handed over as an independent local business, with the aim of breaking even and putting any profits back into as-yet-unnamed local projects.