Published June 5, 2026

The City of Dearborn, along with Jewish Voice for Peace-Detroit, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and ACCESS are pleased to announce the Wall of Tears, a powerful and timely visual art project created by artist Phil Buehler that depicts names, ages, stories, and photographs of the 18,457 children killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The “Wall of Tears” is a 100-foot-long, 7.5-foot-tall outdoor mural featuring the names of these children, both in Arabic and Latin type, color-coded by boys and girls and listed by date of death.

An exhibition opening for the “Wall of Tears” will be held at Dearborn PEACE Park East on Thursday, June 11 from 5:00 -7:00 pm, where the mural will be on display through the end of July. 

Speakers will include Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Rabbi Alana Alpert of Congregation T’chiyah, and artist Phil Buehler.

The event will also include the opportunity to meet the artist, view the Wall of Tears, and participate in family-friendly art activities. 

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud said, “For nearly three years, the world has witnessed the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, a campaign that has taken the lives of tens of thousands of innocent children and families. That same destruction has spread to Lebanon, leaving millions displaced and entire villages wiped from the map. This monument stands in memory of those children and as a call to conscience, reminding future generations of the cost of silence and the responsibility to never look away.”

The Wall of Tears installation has brought visitors from around the world to witness the intersection of art, political commentary and the horrors of genocide, and has been on display around the world, including in New York City, Australia, London, San Francisco, and New Jersey. After Dearborn, new walls will soon be built in Mexico City, Dallas, and Portland.

The Wall of Tears was created with the database from the Gaza Ministry of Health. Stories and photographs of 100 of the children were assembled from @WashingtonPost, @Guardian and the @Gaza_Shaheed project, which shares memorials posted on X/Twitter by families.

The mural continues Buehler's tradition of creating art that can be appreciated both from a distance as a powerful visual statement and up close for detailed examination of individual elements. "Like my other murals, I hope this one works on multiple levels,” Buehler said. “You might be curious from a distance and be drawn in and read some of their stories and look at the family photos. How could someone walk away without thinking that this could be my kid, my niece, my neighbor’s kid? Our love of children is universal.” 

On Saturday, June 13 at 2:00 pm, a second art installation entitled Gaza City will be presented at the Henry Ford Centennial Library alongside a special event. This walk-in photograph, or “cyclorama”, showcases the visceral devastation in Gaza, allowing viewers to step into the center of Gaza City surrounded by images of tent cities and the many men, women and children living amidst the destruction.

The event will also feature a screening of the Academy Award-nominated film The Voice of Hind Rajab, and several speakers, including Huwaida Arraf of the Freedom Flotilla organizing committee and artist Phil Buehler, who will share deeper insights, discuss the artwork and film and answer questions. Additionally, attendees will connect via Zoom for a live report directly from Dr. Mohamed Kuziezsome and some of  the doctors currently in Gaza.

Gaza City is a collaboration between Buehler and Palestinian photojournalist Shroug Alaiya, who took the dozens of photographs that Buehler digitally stitched together to create the cyclorama. With concern for her privacy and safety, Alaiya was asked if she wanted to be credited with the artwork, to which she responded, "You can mention my name, no risk in this. I’ve already survived a genocide."
 

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