Hamas Quietly Looking To Sell Giant Nude Portrait Of Muhammad

“Even though this is high art, those philistines in ISIS probably don’t understand the finer points of Islamic culture.”

By Tzvi Ben Yaakov

Gaza City, January 22 – What has long greeted visiting journalists and dignitaries to the palatial Hamas headquarters in Gaza City was a surprise: an imposing, forty-foot-tall portrait of the prophet Muhammad, riding naked and bareback on a camel toward Jerusalem.

Called ‘Stallion of the Desert,’ it has long been admired in Islamic art circles and is one of the Gaza Strip’s major – and only – tourist attractions.

“It’s a wonder of the Muslim world for sure.” Said Hebrew University Islamic Art expert Shlomo Ben-Zion. “It hails from a time before the current prohibitions on depicting the prophet, and the Hamas leaders are said to have won it in a late night strip-poker game with the king of Saudi Arabia back in the 1970’s.”

There are legends that the portrait itself has special powers, with people who stand in front of its presence known to convert to Islam on the spot. Longtime Gaza resident Sharon Bitlowski, a convert originally from Minnesota, fondly remembers the first time she set eyes on the painting.

“I was working as a nurse here, a good Christian farm-girl I was. Then I set eyes on the portrait, blessed be it, and took one look at how tremendously well-endowed the Prophet was, displaying it astride the hump of that camel. I dropped to my knees and yelled ‘Allah hu-Akbar!’ God grant me a husband even half as worthy of the Prophet Muhammad.”

Given current sensitives over images and depictions of the Prophet, Hamas have been looking to sell the painting for some time, with discreet inquiries becoming more intense over the last several weeks. A Hamas official in charge of their fine art collection, speaking on the condition of anonymity said, “Frankly, everything that’s going on with the cartoons scares the hell out of us. Even though this is high art, those philistines in ISIS probably don’t understand the finer points of Islamic culture.”

Offers to purchase ‘Stallion of the Desert’ have come in from as far afield as Las Vegas and Hong Kong. However, the Hamas official already thinks he might have found the perfect home for it.

 “There’s a gay club in New York that caters to Arabs, called the Oil Drill. They have great music, hookah, very cheap drinks, very cheap. It’s such a fun night; I think this painting will be well loved there.”

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