TheRightsForum Israel lobby is pushing down 'antisemitic' art project in Vlissingen

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.

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: > > >

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.

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?

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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