LUKE CORNISH
No Rest (The Vandalism of Deir al-Balah)
Aerosol on board
100 x 135cm
No Rest (The Vandalism of Deir al-Balah) is a response to the widely underreported desecration of the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, by the Israeli Defence Force— a place of supposed eternal rest —where lies the fallen of the First World War, a generation shaped by loyalty, courage, and comradeship, men who believed their sacrifice might secure a more peaceful future. My great uncle, Alfred Cook of the Australian Light Horse, is buried here.
The destruction of a war cemetery is more than damage to stone and soil; it is a violation of memory. Graves are sacred not because of politics, but because they hold the human cost of conflict. When the resting place of the dead is disturbed, it unsettles the living as well. It tells us that even in death there is no refuge from violence.
This work holds personal grief alongside collective loss. I paint for Alfred Cook, but also for the unnamed and the overlooked, for histories buried and erased. Somebody must be held accountable for this vandalism. Without accountability, remembrance becomes empty ritual, and the promise that sacrifice would be honoured dissolves into silence. Remembrance must be an active practice — a defence of dignity, even when the world looks away.
