Congratulations! You’ve managed to get through the first 2.5 weekdays. To help you get through the second half of your week, Jewcy is happy to present you with Hump Day Art. Think of it as an opportunity to devote your attention to the more cultural things in life, or at the very least, to zone out at your desk for a few minutes while you look at some pretty pictures.

Iranian street artist A1one recently teamed up with Israeli artists Inspire and Poe to create a series of works called “Evolution of Violence” showcased on the walls of Tel Aviv and Tehran.

Inspire writes, “We were all born creators...we have no need for systems of control which ultimately help to cause senseless violence to evolve within our cultures...You don't have to fuck people over to survive…”

Here are images from both cities.

Tel Aviv

Tehran

Last week: Sand in the Holy Land

• The Washington Times writes that Israel is trapped between 3 pro-Iran entities, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas: "Now the chances for a Palestinian settlement remain stuck at minus zero. Extremists have displaced pragmatists. Moderation doesn't pay in today's Middle East; violence does. And the Bush administration's campaign for democratic reform in the region has petered out."
• Mideast dirty politics all interconnected, writes The Jerusalem Post.
• From The NY Times: In war-fragmented Lebanon, the national army offers stability.
• If Judaism, Christianity and Islam were not monotheistic, would there be less conflict? Boston Globe columnist James Carroll asks: would there be no wars?
• On the ground in Tehran, Newsweek Senior Editor Michael Hirsh's diary is free of guns and full of Islamic bling.
• Salon.com writes of the Israeli Consulate/Maxim publicity event: "Israel is like the cool uncle who slips you beers and copies of Playboy before you're of age! Israel totally gets the hot babes in bikinis thing! In fact, Israel has hot babes in bikinis!"