Censoring anti-Zionist art isn’t free speech

JVL Introduction

Complaints by certain Jewish communal bodies or even by self-appointed guardians of virtue have become commonplace, with  “antisemitic tropes and messaging” being found in many obscure places (quite recently, after 11 years unnoticed,  in ceramic plates designed by children in Gaza in a corridor at London’s Chelsea & Westminster Hospital – they were removed).

Now we have the furore surrounding the Royal Academy of Art’s Young Artists’ Summer show, where the Board of Deputies of British Jews has succeeded in getting two artworks removed and extracting an abject apology from the RA.

In a thoughtful article in the Pickle, Alexandra Diamond-Rivlin artist, writer and editor at Vashti, explores the issues at stake.

She is unconvinced that the Board, despite claiming to be an organisation “aware of the long and admirable tradition of anti-war art”, believes there can ever be a legitimate way to be anti-Zionist.

RK

This article was originally published by Vashtimedia on Fri 19 Jul 2024. Read the original here.