PostScriptum FLYING KITES WITH CAESUUR alt right-wing populists & the Israel Lobby destroying an art project
Exhibition | October 20 untill November 17, 2018 1
2
ruimteCAESUUR Lange Noordstraat 67 | 4331 CC Middelburg www.caesuur.nu | www.hansovervliet.com caesuur@zeelandnet.nl | curiositas@zeelandnet.nl 3
4
Content Introduction
page 07
Open call to the college of Aldermen & Mayor to ban kite action from Caesuur | SGP
page 09
reaction of teamCAESUUR: open letter to the city council of Vlissingen
page 10
The Times of Israel | October 28
page 13
Stand Wit US | October 28
page 15
TheRightsForum Israel lobby is pushing down 'antisemitic' art project in Vlissingen
page 16
TheRightsForum Lies about kite project end up via ex-employee CIDI in Israeli press
page 21
Jewish Telegraph Agency | October 26
page 23
Haaretz | November 05
page 24
From the POV open letter to Caesuur | November 02
page 26
For Dutch readers Articles | PZC / Omroep Zeeland / CIDI / Jen.nl
page 27
Inspiration during the making of the translations Philip Glass - Glassworks (complete) J.S.Bach "The Goldberg Variations" [ Glenn Gould ] (1955) Philip Glass - Metamorphosis | complete Erik Satie: Gymnopédies & Gnossiennes (Full Album) 5
Vlissingen beach | October 20, 2018 6
As you could read in the catalog ‘Flying kits with CAESUUR’ on www.caesuur.nu, I invited 20 fellow artists for the idea of 'flying kites with CAESUUR'. On October 20 we gave it a try on the beach in Vlissingen. The alderman of the city of Flushing [ Vlissingen ] for the Elderly Party 50 Plus, Rens Reijnierse, in a personal capacity visited the presentation on the beach on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Since there was hardly any wind, the kite flying did not went very well, so teamCAESUUR improvised a popup exhibition there and then. Reijnierse tweeted “Kites on the beach. Beautiful autumn day in Vlissingen, no wind, so the kites do not fly Project for Palestine succeeded.” The local alt right-wing populist party POV – Perspective On Vlissingen immediately grinded: Dear College of B & W, dear colleagues of the Council Here is a reaction from the fraction of POV Perspective On Vlissingen in response to reports in the PZC of 21 October last. It concerns the article 'Heavenly Vernissage (sic) for Gaza'. We quote the initiator according to the PZC: 'When flying kites, you think of children playing. This is not the case in Gaza. A kite is seen as a terrorist weapon by the Israeli army. ' Well, the initiators apparently have completely failed to notice that the kites on the beach are clearly and deliberately a symbol for the kites which have been sent daily from Gaza to Israel with burning objects and explosives for months. These terror pilots seriously endanger the lives of both humans and animals and have destroyed many dozen square kilometers of natural and agricultural land. A kite from Gaza IS a terrorist weapon. The fraction of POV Perspective On Vlissingen wants to inform you that we are strongly opposing and renouncing such anti-Semitic and politically correct 'art projects' on the Vlissingen bathing beach. We do not wish for a definite Vlissingse support for terrorists, no 'playful' or 'artistic' pilots openly decorated with Nazi symbols. We are of the opinion that the 'art project' has nothing to do with VVMU. This is public support for anti-Semitism and the glorification of terror. Absolutely inappropriate, totally reprehensible and totally unacceptable. However, it gets worse. Alderman Reijnierse in all his wisdom last Saturday thought to support this so-called 'vernissage' as witnessed by the following expression on Twitter; 'Kites on the beach. Beautiful autumn day in Vlissingen, no wind, so the pilots do not fly. Project for Palestine succeeded '.
>>> 7
After this reprehensible and open support, the social media almost exploded with rage and from that moment on, to this day, the alderman is the risé of the Netherlands. In our view completely justified. The city of Vlissingen has also suffered enormous damage to her image. The fraction of POV Perspective On Vlissingen finds the support of a member of the board totally inappropriate, totally reprehensible and completely unacceptable. We find it undesirable that the city of Vlissingen under the guise of an 'art project' publicly pollutes our beaches and smudges them by kites with Nazi symbols and other anti-Semitic expressions. We express the wish that the municipality of Vlissingen immediately distances itself from the event as it took place last Saturday. Next Thursday, the pilots will apparently air on the beach during a second attempt of the 'art project'. We predict an unprecedented hype on both the social media and the national MSM and that will break the image of Vlissingen down to the ground. We wish Vlissingen a lot of wisdom. Pim Crane, Ruud Kleefman A disturbance at the village pump was born. The ‘explosion’ – mind you, this is Zeeland! - on social media consisted of about 50 eloquent reactions such as puke – posted by ‘end of time Christians’ , all-in Israel defenders and other objective folks, very interested in the facts. Of course, the Israel Lobby immediately took the matter to the next level of agitprop. The CIDI [ Center Information and Documen-tation Israel ] and Jonet.nl posted highly suggestive fake messages on their sites - see the following pages - which were immediately taken over by other Israeli propaganda sites such as The Times of Israel and Stand in the White US. Thanks to the labour by troll journalists such as Cnaan Liphshiz. As a result, an art project – what about the other 17 kites? - was destroyed in quite a professional way. Of course I expected a little head wind to be generated by this project. The extent in which politicians reacted surprised me in the sense that I did not expect the Israel Lobby is so effective in intimidating and silencing opposition voices. Where were the proponents of the free word, the defenders of the autonomy of art, the so-called left-wing parties like the Green Party, the Socialist Party, the Labour Party? They let themselves be silenced by an alt-right populist two-man party like the POV and a few fundamental Christians. Too cowardly for words. This PostScript gives a factual picture of this. In broken English, but still . . . November 2018 | Hans Overvliet P.P.S. We are granted asylum in Belgium and Nijmegen to fly the kites. We will keep you informed. 8
From the SGP [fundamental Christian party] Open call to the college of Aldermen & Mayor to ban kite action from Caesuur. Dear college, The Middelburg organization Caesuur would like to fly kites on Thursday next, kites including images of a rocket and the Reichsadler, a Nazi symbol. The kite-action is described as a playful art-action and reference is made to the Gaza Strip where Palestinian children leave kites as a playful protest. But in reality, there are kites from the Gaza Strip, including Molotov cocktails and explosives, with the aim of destroying agricultural land, harvests and forests across the border in Israel and frightening Israeli citizens. The image of the Reichsadler on the kites symbolizes anti-Semitism and the rocket for violence against the state of Israel. The SGP thinks that, under the guise of art, it is very undesirable that these kites (which according to the organization Caesuur in Gaza are used as "peaceful" protest, but in reality are fire bombers) with an anti-Semitic image and an image that Violence against Israel propagates on our Bathing Beach. This is extremely bad for the image of Vlissingen. We therefore urge the Municipal Executive, and in particular the mayor, to refuse or withdraw the requested permit by applying Article 4h from the APV [ General Police Regulation - HO ]: 4. Without prejudice to articles 1: 6 and 1: 8, the mayor may refuse the event permit in whole or in part, withdraw or change temporarily or for an indefinite period if, in his opinion: h. The content or appearance of the event does not fit in with the event policy, the image or the interests of the Municipality of Vlissingen. We look forward to your response immediately. Sincerely, Group SGP Lilian Janse-van der Weele Cor Tromp
9
The reaction of teamCAESUUR Subject | open letter to the city council of Vlissingen Middelburg, Thursday, October 25, 2018 Dear members of the city council Vlissingen, On Saturday, October 20, ruimteCAESUUR organized the art campaign ‘Flying kites with CAESUUR’ on the beach in Vlissingen. The frame of reference for this action was the controversy surrounding the release of kites in the Gaza Strip. On the one hand kite flying is a leisure activity that is regularly used for peaceful protest actions (for example in 2010, when breaking the world record kiting). On the other hand, pilots are used to fly combustible materials and small explosives to Israeli territory and cause damage to them. Although no human victims have occurred so far, livestock has been killed and considerable land and nature have been destroyed by these actions. The state of Israel responded to this with unsparing violence. Sharpshooters shoot down civilians, the majority of them unarmed: children, journalists, aid workers, in fact everyone who comes within the distance of the fence that gates Gaza. Although Western media often produce an image of more or less balanced mutual violence, the methods and effects of violence between Israelis and Palestinians are completely disproportionate: according to Amnesty International's latest report on Gaza*, which is based on international research. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights recognized, more than 150 Palestinians have been killed during the demonstrations since the start of the peaceful protests. At least 10,000 others have been injured. Among them are 1,849 children, 424 women, 115 paramedical care workers and 115 journalists. Among all these injured, 5,814 people were struck by sharp ammunition of snipers. According to the Israeli media, one soldier was slightly wounded by shrapnel grenades and one soldier was killed near the gate by a Palestinian sniper. Dissatisfaction about this inequality, which usually remains underexposed in the media, was the starting point for the pilot action for initiator Hans Overvliet. By taking the controversial and ambiguous form of kites used in Palestine as the basis, the project aims to bring about a discussion about the complex mix of power, representation, violence and play, aspects that are unmistakably linked to these kites. The fact that this is perceived as controversial by a number of people is understandable, because it undermines the simplistic view, established in some circles, that Palestinian kites are now an unequivocal source of evil. In this way, challenging a debate by potentially controversial action is, however, something very different than simply glorifying terrorism, as some comments on the project have suggested.
10
Twenty artists around the world were invited to design a kite in this context. The task was not to make a kite about the conflict in the Gaza Strip (although this was a possibility and some did so), but to take the situation of unequal power and violence that exist in this specific conflict as a reason to reflect on power and violence in places or in situations that are important >>> to them. The result is therefore a very diverse collection of kites. The basic shape of the pilots and the starting point of the project have a connection with the conflict in Israel / Palestine,
of unequal power and violence that exist in this specific conflict as a reason to reflect on power and violence in places or in situations that are important to them. The result is therefore a very diverse collection of kites. The basic shape of the pilots and the starting point of the project have a connection with the conflict in Israel / Palestine, but in terms of content, the pilots involve a wide range of subjects and places on different continents. The project has led to a large number of indignant reactions. Many of these reactions are based on a combination of erroneous information, and unwillingness to actually work in the project, instead of relying on rumors and biased, fleeting impressions: swastika crosses were placed on kites, violence and Nazism glorified to become. These inventions rely mainly on the following three works in the project. The first is a picture of Belgian artist Jan Verhaeghe with an eagle holding the copyright sign. Verhaeghe himself explains about this work: My eagle logo indeed refers to the most murderous period in our recent history, from history tout court. Only the motif used differs from the ancient symbol claimed by that regime. My eagle, which was also used by other former and current rulers, looks to the left. The position that I also occupy within the political spectrum. The eagle turns its head away from the right, from the extreme right that once again raises its head too high in the north of my country. A clear rejection of the regime that encumbered this, and also other symbols, almost irreparably. Since the end of the nineties of the last century I have been trying to purify defiled symbols, an unequal struggle, I know in the meantime. That makes me a conceptual follower of the great master Marcel Broodthaers who in another way bit his teeth on the eagle motif and in turn the history of this symbol much deeper examined through his 'Department of Aigles' [ See f.i. www.http://moussemagazine.it/taac5-a/ ]. So I call to look further than what can be seen at first sight: do I see what I see? Do not let yourself be blinded by images without thinking further and above all trying to find and find the nuance in every possible situation. And to come to dialogue. The second work concerns a British-made rocket - a Rapier Missile - printed on a kite, designed by project initiator Hans Overvliet. This is a rocket, offered on a website for digital models **. The used model can be downloaded for use in modeling and animation software to create games and videos, and 3D printing. Much of Overvliet's work is about making analogies of what happens on the internet. An important theme is 'distant suffering', the question of how violence and injustice that takes place far away from us is perceived through media technologies and how we deal with our experiences of empathy and the limited possibilities to act in response to these mediatized conflicts. To both express his solidarity and in order to identify himself with the victims, the missile is aimed at the one holding the rope of the kite, i.e. the artist . . . . The alleged explosion on the third kite is a painting of a vagina / vulva by the Pakistani artist Mehreen Hashmi. This work is part of a larger group of works in which she deals with the consequences and processing of sexual violence.
>>> 11
In addition to relying on incorrect and / or incomplete information, many negative reactions suggest that any criticism of the state of Israel's border and occupation policy is automatically an expression of anti-Semitism, without further substantiating this alleged connection. Criticism of the politics of the state of Israel that is motivated by anti-Semitic is indeed common, and it is therefore important and understandable that criticism at the address of this state is closely analyzed in this sense. The suggestion that all critical actions against the state of Israel would by definition be anti-Semitic is, however, simply incorrect, just as criticism of - for example - the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is not by definition an expression of Islamophobia. Our criticism of the actions of the state of Israel towards the Palestinian population is strictly concerned with the disproportionality of means of violence and the exercise of force and territorial politics against the occupied territories. We reject any form of action based on anti-Jewish sentiments or prejudices, and reject the equation of the state apparatus of Israel with Judaism as religion and / or a certain group of ethnicities. We also emphasize, perhaps superfluously, our project explicitly distances itself from anti-Semitic sentiments of Hamas or any other movement. The project is also not aimed at denying the existence of the state of Israel. Pim Kraan and the fraction of Perspective On Vlissingen use the two abovementioned forms of misrepresentation to carry out a project against our project and the alderman of culture. Without actually looking at the project themselves, they distribute incomplete and erroneous information about the content, and accuse those involved of anti-Semitism without giving substantial arguments, based on the misconception that any criticism of the state of Israel or solidarity with Palestinians by definition would be antiSemitic. The group's actions testify to short-sightedness and populist opportunism, with extremely weak arguments. All this in the context of an intolerance to cultural expressions that go beyond the everyday, and seemingly contrary to an authoritarian concept of morality determined by this group itself. The POV faction complains about the damage that our project would cause for the city of Vlissingen. The irony is that if there is already image damage, this is for a substantial part caused by the POV itself. The group could have chosen to approach the artists involved (one of them is a member of the POV!) In order to form a clear picture of the project and then to include its reservations in a nuanced and strongly argued statement as the basis for a (public) debate in which matters such as freedom of expression, the place of art in society and dealing with potentially controversial expressions are weighed. Instead, the group has chosen to initiate an aggressive media campaign without any reflection in order to render the project in as bad a way as possible, to damage the alderman of culture as much as possible, and in this way malicious and false reports about the project a small group of fanatics on the internet are distributed to legitimize. In other words: if there is something that causes damage to the municipality of Vlissingen in this matter, then it is mainly the political opportunism of the POV fraction. teamCAESUUR |
Hans Overliet, Willy van Houtum, Giel Louws and Dani Ploeger
*seen 24/10/’18 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2018/10/gaza-greatmarchof-return/ ** https://www.stlfinder.com/collections/ 12
Palestinian kite, presented by The Times of Israel on April 20, 2018
>>> 13
14
15
Israel lobby is pushing down 'antisemitic' art project in Vlissingen https://rightsforum.org/nieuws/israel-lobby-drukt-antisemitisch-kunstproject-vlissingen-kop/
As seen on October 29, 2018 [the original text is in Dutch ] In Vlissingen, an art project with kites was canceled after a violent campaign against the artists and the city council. Even the Israeli press reported on a non-existent pilot with a swastika. The affair offers insight into a common practice: solidarity with the Palestinians is punished mercilessly. The Vlissingse [ read Middelburgs – H.O. ] podium for contemporary art, spaceCAESUUR has had to break off its project 'Flying kites with CAESUUR'. The project was attacked on a broad front as being anti-Semitic and leaning on Nazi symbolism and terrorism. It is noteworthy that a local Vlissings art project creates so much commotion that even Israeli newspapers pay attention to it, and that social media advocates shouldering the organizers. On the other hand, it gives a familiar picture of what happens to people and organizations that show solidarity with the Palestinians. Almost standard they are victims of what appears to be coordinated actions to silence them. For that reason we go into the Vlissingen affair extensively. Silence before the storm The Vlissingse organization spaceCAESUUR was inspired by the use of kites by the residents of the Palestinian Gaza Strip for its art project, and emphasized on its website the various facets of it: In 2010, thousands of children in Gaza improved the Guinness Record Kite (kite flying record) that they had established in 2009. 7,202 Children and as many pilots participated in this event organized by UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee organization of the United Nations. In 2018, people in Gaza use kite flying as a cheerful political statement of protest, occasionally alternated with an attempt at actual resistance. The latter is again regarded by one of the best armed - including the nuclear weapon - countries in the world as an existential danger: kite terrorism. A concept that is lustfully propagated by the corporate media all over the world. Based on these insights, organizer and artist Hans Overvliet decided to use his project: kites as a carrier of works of art that denounce social issues - a naive form for powerful content. Twenty artists from five countries - the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Palestine and Pakistan - were invited to contribute with a socially engaged work. The project was not intended as a political statement for Palestine. The artists each chose their own perspective, including feminism and the manifest right-wing extremism. A number of them chose a Palestinian subject. The organization emphasized the high level of the submitted art works, coupled with their underlying motivation. Shoot in the legs It did not come about that. The wind was in fact immediately followed by the proverbial storm. Reason for the turbulence was a tweet from culture alderman Rens Reijnierse (50PLUS), who came to take a look at the planned departure of the pilots on Saturday: Kites on the beach. Beautiful autumn day in Vlissingen, no wind, so the kites do not fly. Project for Palestine succeeded.
>>> 16
This apparently sympathetic tweet set in motion a carousel of violent protests. Both the organizers, Alderman Reijnierse and the Board of Aldermen & Mayor have since come under heavy fire because of the kite project, which would be full of Nazi symbolism, war glorification and antiSemitism. The organizers could read on social media that they 'have to be shot in their legs'. 'Antisemitic art project' Typically, the uproar that arose in local politics. The fraction of 'Perspective on Flushing' (POV) calls the tweet of the alderman 'totally inappropriate, totally reprehensible and completely unacceptable', and speaks of 'enormous damage to the image by the reprehensible Palestine tweet of the Vlissingen alderman'. The POV requires the municipality to distance itself from the tweet as being an 'objectionable and open support for an anti-Semitic art project'. The following is stated in support: We find it undesirable that the city of Vlissingen under the guise of an art project publicly pollutes our beaches and smudges them by kites with Nazi symbols and other anti-Semitic expressions. POV faction leader Pim Kraan sets the Vlissingen art project in the perspective of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, where two million Palestinians are held prisoner by Israel in what is called the largest open air prison in the world: There is a conflict in that area, which you do not have to interfere with as an authority. Because of that tweet it seems as if Reijnierse approves the terrorist acts there. That is a very wrong signal. Other political parties have also joined the issue. The SGP group called on the mayor to deny the people who want to fly the kites access to the beach. The VVD party asks questions about, among other things, an 'anti-Semitic Nazi symbol' on one of the kites, and about the damage caused in Israel by 'fire bombs' carried by kites. Israel-lobby The Israel lobby also applied to the local Vlissingen issue. The Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad (New Israelian Weekly) incorrectly writes that the organization describes the project on its website as 'an action against the Jewish state'. In addition, the NAV reports that party leader Henk Krol of 50PLUS in the House of Representatives on Twitter is called on his party colleague Reijnierse in Vlissingen 'to appeal to his message'. The Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI) calls the Vlissingen art project 'inappropriate' because kites on a Dutch beach remind the organization of kites and balloons that are set up in the Gaza Strip to cause fires in Israel. According to CIDI, there are 'dozens per day': The flight campaign is inappropriate, given the terror campaign that several groups in the Gaza Strip have had for seven months with kites and balloons. Dozens of fire bombs and inflammations are fired every day to cause fires in southern Israel. Furthermore, CIDI criticizes two of the artworks. The stones of offense: On one of the pilots a rocket can be seen, a frequently used weapon that is used by terrorist movements in Gaza against Israeli civilian targets. On another flyer a rich eagle is depicted, which was used as a symbol by the Nazis in Germany. Jonet: 'Kite with swastika' The Jonet website goes one step further. According to the editors, there are not only 'kites with totalitarian and pro-Palestinian symbols' that are allowed to 'stand up under the guise of art and the freedom of expression' - according to Jonet, one of the pilots even carries the image of a swastika: >>> 17
the freedom of expression' - according to Jonet, one of the pilots even carries the image of a swastika: On hexagonal kites symbols for the Palestinians and against Israel can be seen, including a swastika and a copy of the Reichstadler of Nazi Germany. There is also a kite with one of the missiles with which terrorist group Hamas bombarded the Israelis daily. On hexagonal kites symbols for the Palestinians and against Israel can be seen, including a swastika and a copy of the Reichstadler of Nazi Germany. There is also a kite with one of the missiles with which terrorist group Hamas bombarded the Israelis daily. Jonet further reports that alderman Reijnierse is 'verbally attacked by pro-Israeli twitterers', and mentions two examples. A 'prominent Jewish Dutchman in Israel' tweetted: And now proudly walking around in Vlissingen? You do not know how much damage and fear the Hamas pilots in Zd. To cause Israel? You must be ashamed and not worthy of being alderman of @ Vlissingen. The second example is from a 'parliamentary reporter', who even associates the participating artists with attacks on 'Jewish children': Did they also attach packages to children as they do in Gaza, hoping to meet unsuspecting Jewish children with a fire bomb? Times of Israel also reports 'swastika' Who would think that the accusations are stacked high enough this is wrong, because in the meantime the protest campaign has reached the Israeli media. The news is the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), which leaves itself in an article on information from CIDI. The Times of Israel took over the JTA article. The editors of JTA and the Times of Israel also claim to have seen a kite with a swastika on the Vlissingse beach - in green still, the 'color of Hamas': One of the kites created by the space CAESUUR cooperative of artists featured a swastika in green, the official color of Hamas. Mission accomplished In this way, the Vlissingen art project, including the (in) directly involved, was buried under a tsunami with serious accusations and suspicions. With result. On Wednesday, the organization canceled the art project. Not only because of all accusations and threats, but also out of bewilderment about the complete lack of interest in the real meaning of the project and the artworks, which has been completely left out of consideration. It is utterly shameful that - despite the serious accusations made by the city council - none of The B & W College also issued a statement. This in response to 'a lot of angry, sad and surprised reactions, also to the college'. The Commission states that it 'has no connection with the project' and 'regrets the existing situation'. The accusations to the address of the alderman are also discussed: Alderman Reijnierse was personally invited. [...] He tweeted about this. He did not realize the political impact of this artist project. The college emphasized that the alderman had excused himself on Twitter a day earlier. Reijnierse wrote: My sincerest apologies. I did not want to insult people. Do not worry. I never wanted to interfere in a conflict. I only wanted to support an art project. I have not laid the link with kites which stand for violence. I remove my tweet. With this the protest campaign reached its goal: the project was canceled, the organization and the artists were vilified, the alderman went through the dust and the municipality of Vlissingen will from now on think ten times when it comes to art projects - quite like those in the have a relationship with solidarity with Palestinians. Pursuing individuals and organizations with reproaches of anti-Semitism and the use of Nazi symbolism is still very effective.
>>> 18
Disputed art But is something also correct? Whoever brings order in the forest of accusations can determine that they are aimed at three works of art and a nonexistent fourth pilot. A vagina painted by a Pakistani artist is labeled by the Vlissingse politics as a 'burning object' or 'explosion' - an association that is necessary to establish a link with Gaza. A Belgian work of art depicted the thousand-year-old German Reich eagle, also used by the Nazis, but standing on the copyright sign instead of the swastika that the Nazis used. The artist thereby denounced the hijacking of national symbols by contemporary right-wing extremists, but is now accused of using an 'anti-Semitic Nazi symbol'. The third disputed kite wore a picture of a modern rocket - a reference to the high-tech weapons used to shoot civilians in Yemen. The debate about Western arms supplies, involvement of business and investors, and looking away from politics is extremely topical. Fictional art So far the three art forms that form the basis of the massive protest campaign: a vagina, an indictment of right-wing extremist symbolism, and a start to debate about the bombing of civilian populations. And then there is a fourth accusation: Jonet, JTA and the Times of Israel report a kite with the image of a swastika. Such a kite would undoubtedly have led to national media attention and turmoil in the Netherlands, but they did not last. The conscious kite does not exist, but was brought to life by the media itself. Jonet, JTA and the Times of Israel are based on the article of the CIDI, which contains an image of a kite with a swastika - even though it has nothing to do with the Vlissingen art project. This gaudy attempt at guilt by association has been made reality by Jonet, JTA and the Times of Israel and as such presented to an international audience, in which the Vlissingen alderman Reijnierse (with photo and all in the Times of Israel) and the artists function as heads to beat on. Questions to the Vlissingse politics The issue raises questions to Vlissingen parties such as the VVD and POV: why do they even include the Israeli blockade of Gaza in their judgment on a local art project, and do they also present a seriously flawed context? In line with this, it is relevant whether such measures are now applied to all Vlissingse projects. In concrete terms, the question is whether the use of kites elsewhere in the world - for fun, to break a world record, or even as opposition to oppression - is a logical and legitimate criterion for assessing an art project in the Netherlands. In the case against the project, no valid argument is put forward for this. Nor has even been attempted to substantiate on the basis of which Dutch fundamental rights and elementary liberties - such as that of expression and expression - should be abandoned, and what the broader consequences are. That lack of argumentation must be blamed especially on the politicians involved. In addition, it is up to them to make clear where the boundaries will lie. If a pilot gets the status of 'terror weapon', what does that mean for other kite projects? Not insignificant for a city like Vlissingen is also what becomes the status of ships, helicopters, drones, tanks and other weapons. Can they still enter the city? Are (visiting aldermen at) fairs, exhibitions and other events in that area still possible?
>>>
19
Israeli standards It is striking that in the protest campaign by Jonet, among others, it is stated that the Vlissingse project would be organized 'under the guise of art and the freedom of expression'. This suggests that there is a ruse: the organizers would actually have other intentions and use their art as a cover. No proof is provided for this suspicion. Also the suggestion that the freedom of expression would have been abused is in no way substantiated. The ease with which democratic rights are sacrificed or made suspicious for the benefit of their own agenda is strongly reminiscent of the state of affairs in Israel. There is currently a bill from Minister Miri Regev of Culture on the table, which makes subsidizing 'subversive' art impossible. In recent years, the Israeli parliament has adopted a large number of draconian laws that have undermined the democracy of that country. It has also been established that Israel and its Lobby are deeply engaged in efforts to suppress solidarity with the Palestinian people worldwide. Against this well-known background Dutch politicians and media, also in Vlissingen, may be expected to be vigilant. The arms of the Lobby So far the treatment that Dutch artists receive when they are engaged in ideas or projects that are not liked by the pro-Israel lobby. So much so the intimidation that a municipality and its administrators receive when they allow unwanted projects within their borders by the Lobby. However local the Vlissingen issue is, it meets a number of classic characteristics. For example, the simultaneous action of political parties (such as the VVD and SGP), pro-Israeli organizations and media (CIDI, Jonet) and international media (JTA, Times of Israel) is linked to hysterical public outrage. Numerous campaigns were conducted in similar combinations, including the smear campaigns against the incoming minister Sigrid Kaag and former prime minister Dries van Agt. Also the framing with terror, anti-Semitism and Nazi sentiments, the slanderous suggestions and the blatant lies are tried and tested ingredients to silence unwanted voices. In a recent case study we described this phenomenon as a result of a publication in the New Israelite Weekly. That publication was also full of heavy accusations that were based on nothing. The 'pro-Israel twitterers' of which Jonet also mentioned (B & W van Vlissingen speaks of 'enormous reactions') are a classic phenomenon. There are numerous examples of the organized way in which Dutch people or organizations were overwhelmed with what is called a shitstorm. Among the targets are the board of the Free University (VU), which had allowed an unwanted meeting, and the Amsterdam PvdA party that had spoken against a city link with Tel Aviv: Several Amsterdam groups, including those of the PvdA, complained that they had been put under pressure in a scandalous way, including wild accusations of anti-Semitism. Purpose of the campaign Would there really be concerns in the Vlissingen politics and the Lobby about artistic expressions that address contemporary abuses? Then debate would be appropriate, starting with a proper presentation of the objections. But despite all the violent accusations, there is no question of serious argumentation or even an attempt to do so. Declaration against the artists did not happen, even if it had been obvious in view of the accusations. The protest campaign could also have opted for a different strategy, by leaving the project for what it was: a local art project that does not belong to anyone outside the region. Apparently that was not an option: alderman Reijnierse and the artists were settled in the Israeli media on their actions. The organizers were wished to be shot through the legs, as befits many Palestinians. The protest campaign therefore has only one goal: to punish solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinians that formed the basis of the art project. In this way, the campaign fits into a long series of examples that aim to slander and, if possible, ban all attention to the Palestinians. After years of tolerance, it is high time that these practices come to an end. That starts with naming it. 20
Lies about kite project end up via ex-employee CIDI in Israeli press https://rightsforum.org/nieuws/leugens-vliegerproject-belanden-ex-medewerker-cidi-israelische-pers/
November 1, 2018 A lying article in Israeli media about the canceled pilot project in Vlissingen is shown by the former CIDI employee Cnaan Liphshiz. As is often the case, he is the intermediate station between the Dutch Israel lobby and Israeli media, which publish his fake news uncritically. The kites on the beach of Scheveningen. 'In Vlissingen, a pro-Palestinian event took place in which pilots with a swastika and other nazi symbolism were made up. It was a kite show in solidarity with Gaza, and the artists were praised by a councilor on Twitter. ' This equally sensational and untrue news was read on the Israeli news websites The Times of Israel and Haaretz on 27 October. The two identical articles echoed the campaign of the so-called Israel lobby and Vlissingse political parties to make a kite project of the art artspaceCAESUUR suspicious as anti-Semitic and leaning on Nazi symbolism and terrorism. And in order to get it canceled, a design that succeeded: defamed and frustrated, the artists canceled their event. We wrote about it earlier this week. Pass across of defamation The article on the Israeli websites comes from the American news agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). It appears written by the Dutch correspondent of JTA, Cnaan Liphshiz. He is a former employee of the Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI), the prominent lobbying organization that also took the gun against the kite project, as mentioned by Liphshiz in his article. Liphshiz functions more often as an intermediate station between the Dutch Israel lobby and Israeli media, which usually publish its articles unchecked. Earlier we paid attention to the role that Liphshiz played in the smear campaigns against Minister Sigrid Kaag and former Prime Minister and founder of The Rights Forum Dries van Agt. Via Liphshiz, an international readership was presented with the slander in the Netherlands about both of them. Hard-tempered lie This time the audience could read how Liphshiz made the artists and their kite project in Vlissingen suspicious. One of their pilots, writes Liphshiz in imitation of the Dutch website for 'independent Jewish news' Jonet, painted with a swastika. A green swastika still, 'the color of Hamas'. Such a kite was in Vlissingen, however, in no fields or roads to be seen. Liphshiz 'claim could thus have come from the St. Petersburg troll factory. It is fake news, a well-placed lie in the world. Following the Dutch Lobby Liphshiz also brings a kite with the image of the German Reich eagle to the spotlight ('Nazi Germany's Imperial Eagle symbol') and he gives his own explanation to the rocket depicted by an artist. He describes the image - an indictment of shooting civilians with high-tech weapons in countries like Yemen - as' a rocket resembling Hamas' Qassam missile '. He does not pay attention to the rest of the nineteen pilots, nor to the purpose of the manifestation. He describes this as misleading as 'a pro-Palestinian kite show' and an event 'in solidarity with Gaza'.
>>> 21
Alderman burned down Liphshiz 'attack is on the face of Rens Reijnierse, the alderman of Culture, named after him, who had sent a positive tweet about the kite project. Liphshiz introduces him as the 'politician who praises artists who fly kites with Nazi symbols and an image of a rocket, in solidarity with Gaza '. The massive attack from the Lobby corner brought Reijnierse into the center of Liphshiz 'attack is on the face of Rens Reijnierse, the alderman of Culture, named after him, who had sent a positive tweet about the kite project. Liphshiz introduces him as the 'politician who praises artists who raised fliers with Nazi symbols and a rocket image, in solidarity with Gaza'. The massive attack from the Lobby corner brought Reijnierse into the center of a storm. In the Netherlands he was, among other things, accused of 'supporting an anti-Semitic art project'. He even saw his suitability for the aldermen questioned. Thanks to Lipshshiz, he is now known beyond the borders: as the Dutch politician who recommends images of a Hamas rocket, a swastika and other Nazi symbols. The Times of Israel took it a step further by placing a large photo of Reijnierse above the article. Wrecking ball This is how the art project collapsed under the arts of the Israel lobby. The depicted rocket was used as a Hamas projectile against the artists and the alderman. The Reich eagle with its copyright sign became a Nazi symbol. And to make the image of an anti-Semitic project in solidarity with Gaza complete, a swastika was invented, in 'the color of Hamas'. Even against this small-scale event that, who knows, could have aroused sympathy for the Palestinians and their rights to a handful of people, the wrecking ball was deployed. And with success. The project has been canceled. The smell of anti-Semitism, Nazi sympathy and love of terror now hangs around all those involved. The alderman had to go through the dust. And Vlissingen will from now on think up three times for granting permission for projects with something 'Palestinian' in the distance. The damage is great, and then the main victim has not yet been mentioned. These are the liberties that form the oxygen for our democracy, the freedom of expression first. Liberties that, you would say, are also the oxygen for media such as The Times of Israel and Haaretz, and for a journalist [ italic by H.O. ] like Liphshiz.
22
News Brief
Dutch politician praises pro-Palestinian kite show featuring Nazi symbols October 26, 2018 2:05pm AMSTERDAM (JTA) — A Dutch local politician praised artists who flew kites in his city featuring Nazi symbols and a picture of a rocket in solidarity with Gaza. Rens Reijnierse, a lawmaker from the southern city of Vlissingen, posted pictures of the kites last week on Twitter. “Kites at Pool Beach. Beautiful autumn day in Vlissingen. No wind so the kites won’t fly but the project for Palestine still succeeded,” he wrote. The lawmaker’s tweet triggered sharp rebuke from critics online and beyond, prompting Reijnierse to delete the message and apologize, according to the Omroep Zeeland regional broadcaster. One of the kites created by the ruimteCAESUUR cooperative of artists featured a swastika in green, the official color of Hamas. Another showed Nazi Germany’s Imperial Eagle symbol carrying the copyright symbol, which the cooperative’s founder, Hans Overvliet, said is meant to protest the “extreme right’s appropriation of symbols.” Other kites featured the Palestinian flag; one also had the image of a rocket resembling Hamas’ Qassam missile. Some 20 artists participated in creating the kites, including three from Gaza and one from Pakistan. Beyond the imagery on some of the kites, some critics said that the premise of the project was problematic because of how Palestinians use kites to set fire to fields and forests in Israel. “The kite campaign is inappropriate in light of the terror campaign that various groups in Gaza have implemented for the past seven months,” the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, wrote in a statement Tuesday.
Palestinian kite, presented by The Times of Israel on April 20, 2018
Overvliet said the kite initiative was not in support of fire starters but in solidarity with the use in previous years of kites in Gaza as peaceful means of protest. He nonetheless canceled a second kite event that was planned with the same artworks this week, explaining he “doesn’t have the energy” to explain the symbols they carry, the PZC news site reported. The quote in the PZC: “Maar het heeft weinig zin dat ik op de boulevard ga roepen waar de vliegers voor staan als er alleen mensen op af komen, die vinden dat wij in onze benen moeten worden geschoten, zoals ik op sociale media las." 23
Which translates into: “But it does not make much sense for me explaining on the boulevard what the kites stand for, if the only people who come to watch it, are those who think we should be shot in our legs, as I read on social media. "
Dutch Politician Praises Kites Featuring Nazi Symbols in Solidarity Event for Gaza Rens Reijnierse, a Dutch lawmaker, posted pictures of the kites last week on Twitter. It triggered sharp rebukes online and beyond, prompting Reijnierse to delete his post and issue an apology A Dutch local politician praised artists who flew kites in his city featuring Nazi symbols and a picture of a rocket in solidarity with Gaza. Rens Reijnierse, a lawmaker from the southern city of Vlissingen, posted pictures of the kites last week on Twitter. “Kites at Pool Beach. Beautiful autumn day in Vlissingen. No wind so the kites won’t fly but the project for Palestine still succeeded,” he wrote. The lawmaker’s tweet triggered sharp rebuke from critics online and beyond, prompting Reijnierse to delete the message and apologize, according to the Omroep Zeeland regional broadcaster. One of the kites created by the ruimteCAESUUR cooperative of artists featured a swastika in green, the official color of Hamas. [ see also next page ] Another showed Nazi Germany’s Imperial Eagle symbol carrying the copyright symbol, which the cooperative’s founder, Hans Overvliet, said is meant to protest the “extreme right’s appropriation of symbols.” >> The Netherlands’ surprise new best seller: Hitler's ‘Mein Kampf’ Other kites featured the Palestinian flag; one also had the image of a rocket resembling Hamas’ Qassam missile. Some 20 artists participated in creating the kites, including three from Gaza and one from Pakistan. Beyond the imagery on some of the kites, some critics said that the premise of the project was problematic because of how Palestinians use kites to set fire to fields and forests in Israel. “The kite campaign is inappropriate in light of the terror campaign that various groups in Gaza have implemented for the past seven months,” the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, wrote in a statement Tuesday. Overvliet said the kite initiative was not in support of fire starters but in solidarity with the use in previous years of kites in Gaza as peaceful means of protest. He nonetheless canceled a second kite event that was planned with the same artworks this week, explaining he “doesn’t have the energy” to explain the symbols they carry, the PZC news site reported. The quote in the PZC: “Maar het heeft weinig zin dat ik op de boulevard ga roepen waar de vliegers voor staan als er alleen mensen op af komen, die vinden dat wij in onze benen moeten worden geschoten, zoals ik op sociale media las." 24
Which translates into: “But it does not make much sense for me explaining on the boulevard what the kites stand for, if the only people who come to watch it, are those who think we should be shot in our legs, as I read on social media. "
From the POV Open letter to Caesuur. Vlissingen, November 2, 2018. Gentlemen [ sic! - HO], In response to your letter of 25 October to the municipal council of Vlissingen, we will inform you as follows: You state in your letter that the manifestation was meant to draw attention to the inequality that you observe in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. You refer here to reports indicating that there are many more casualties on the Palestinian side in this conflict than on the side of Israel. You also declare the signs and symbols used during the event. A statement and explanation that rattles as far as we are concerned, but in any case more than you had done so far for the transfer of your message. It is clear that you have mixed art and politics here in a provocative way. As an organizer you can count on that combination attracting attention and provoking criticism. That can be an end in itself and is legitimate in itself. But if you know that Palestinians use kites to attack Israel in a terrorist way, then a kite demonstration with the theme of the Gaza Strip is not without obligation. Then you can count on resistance and disapproval, and of course on approval. Your action on the beach of Vlissingen used kites that were provided with images that can not be separated from Nazism and the persecution of the Jews in World War II. Of course you explain these images differently and you nuance the meaning of them. However, you are not naïve: it was a provocation where you gave a piece of art a political charge, or a political action under the flag of an art event, one of both. Your indignation about the reactions that triggered your action is therefore amazing and not to be taken seriously. With regard to your statement that the damage to the image for Vlissingen is mainly caused by the POV, the following: because a representative of the Municipal Administration publicly qualified your action as good for the Palestinian cause, the municipality of Vlissingen became involved in the message of your manifestation. It is true that this is the cause, but the damage to the image comes from the position of the alderman involved. Not the letter that we sent on Tuesday, October 23, focused attention on Vlissingen, but his Tweet and the hundreds of reactions to the Social Media since Saturday, October 20 did so. The POV did not initiate a media campaign, but first and foremost wanted to keep the impact on the municipality as small as possible. Alderman Reijnierse proposes to have been invited personally for your event on the beach. An alderman whose portfolio is prominent in Culture does not go to a cultural meeting in a personal capacity, as an alderman there. He has sent a tweet about this accompanied by images that were clearly visible as anti-Semitic symbols. He has in no way pointed out that he was there as a private person, something that obviously could not have been the case.
>>>
25
was there as a private person, something that obviously could not have been the case. Important in this is the following: Already on Saturday October 20 the POV informed the alderman that his Tweet was unwise and raised questions. The alderman did not respond to this, and then the case went on explosively on social media, after which he later withdrew his tweet - too late. In your letter you assume that in an art form much can be done, a lot must be possible. And that's true for us. But the artist also has to deal with the society he lives in, and the emotions and values that play a role there. It's good to get a message like the Uwe, but do not cry crocodile tears if others do not appreciate this: that is locked in the chosen approach. As far as the alderman is concerned: He has withdrawn his tweet and made his apologies. This did not repair the damage, but closed the case for the POV. Sincerely, Fraction POV Pim Kraan Sr. Ruud Kleefman
26
For Dutch readers 27
28
PZC | October 23, 2018
>>>
29
30
Palestinian kite, presented by The Times of Israel on April 20, 2018
31
>>> 32
33
PZC | October 25, 2018
34
35
>>>
36
37
>>>
38
39
PostScriptum FLYING KITES WITH CAESUUR alt right-wing populists & the Israel Lobby destroying an art project
40
