Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour dies at 79

The family confirmed the death in a statement released late Monday. "The final chapter has been written," the family said. "With hearts heavy beyond words, we share that our beloved father has passed away."

Funeral and memorial details will be announced at a later date. Born in 1947 in Birzeit near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Mansour spent more than five decades working as a painter, sculptor, writer and cartoonist.

Art of endurance and land

His works documented Palestinian struggle, displacement and cultural memory using symbols drawn from Palestinian history and daily life. Among his best-known pieces is The Camel of Hardships, depicting an elderly Palestinian man carrying Jerusalem on his back — an image that became a central emblem of Palestinian steadfastness.

Mansour often placed land at the center of his artistic vision. "Everybody is fighting about the land, and the land is my main inspiration," he said in a 2024 interview with Anadolu.

Message of beauty and memory

In the same interview, Mansour described his work as a means to "rehumanize" Palestinians amid attempts by Israelis and the West to dehumanize them. "As artists and people who deal with culture, it's our role to rehumanize the Palestinian people," he said.

He emphasized that his art carried no message of hatred. "In my art, there is no message of hate. It's beauty and love," Mansour said. Addressing Palestinians living outside their homeland, he added: "Don't forget Palestine and Palestine is beautiful."