Reprieve for Palestine children’s mural accused of harbouring antisemitic sea creatures
JVL Introduction
The BBC has reported, partially accurately, news of a reprieve for a colourful mural that had graced the wall outside Tynemouth metro station for a decade before being removed earlier this year at the behest of the anti-Palestinian “Campaign Against Antisemitism”.
The BBC report which we reproduce below fails to reflect the strength of local outrage when the Labour-run council took down the mural, created by children from Shatila Refugee Camp who visited North Tyneside in 2012. A vigorous campaign by “Restore the Palestinian Artwork at Tynemouth Metro Station” campaigners, and other community groups, persuaded the council of the importance of the mural’s history and significance as a piece of cherished local artwork.
A statement sent to JVL by the campaign group says the mural was created “as a symbol of friendship and cultural exchange with local artists for the area, designing it specifically for installation in its home in Tynemouth Station.”
“We were able to debunk the anti-semitic allegations and misinformation communicated by some local elected representatives, a serious attempt to undermine the artwork and create racial division for their own political gain.”
The allegations had made outlandish comparisons between a fanciful, six-legged sea creature among many others in the mural, and clearly racist Nazi images representing Jews as sinister many-tentacled octopi. See illustrations below the BBC story. The accusations were authoritatively refuted in letters sent to the council by Jewish academics and experts.
Local campaigners have created a presentation including the storyline of The Children of Shatila Project, intended to be added alongside the mural when it is eventually restored to public view. At present it is held in storage by the council while negotiations take place with the private company who own most of the site.
NWI
This article was originally published by BBC News North East and Cumbria on Thu 21 Nov 2024. Read the original here.
North Tyneside Council to put Tynemouth Palestine refugee mural back up
A mural which sparked controversy over claims it was antisemitic will be put back on display, a local authority has said.
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Have they made Octopus Energy change their name too? No. So leave the children’s artwork alone JLM.
I still don’t like this mural, and I also didn’t like the Mear One art either. Of course I wouldn’t have demanded their removal but I am mystified and somewhat saddened that we are expected to support this kind of cliche-ridden and frankly dodgy political messaging. Surely there are thousands of other unjustified interventions from the grotesque CAA which we could be combating??
Amanda’s comments are usually perceptive and interesting, but in this case I do not see the problem with the original mural – certainly no analogy with Mear One. As our original report linked to in the latest post explains (https://jewishvoiceforliberation.org.uk/article/beware-antisemitic-octopi/), the mural was the result of collaboration between a group of youngsters visiting Tyneside and some local artists, producing artwork based on the work of an established Los Angeles artist Camille Rose Garcia. It has no political references comparable to those present in the Mear One mural. The Campaign Against Antisemitism’s argument for removing it depends on the absurd allegation that any octopus (if indeed that is what the sea creature in the mural is) used in any context related to Palestine must be antisemitic. It is one of the more egregious examples of the CAA making baseless allegations in order to silence Palestinians, many of which we have covered on this blog. And of course JVL has spent four years trying to persuade the Charity Commission to revoke CAA’s charitable status because of its blatantly partisan political activities.
It’s like saying that any pictures of an octopus are intrinsically anti semitic. The octopus is an intriguing and highly intelligent and perceptive creature, that has an amazing skill in adapting to its environment. The CAA is another of these damaging outfits like the UKLFI using intimidating and intrinsically false accusations of antisemitism against any support for Palestinians or critical of Israel’s war crimes. Both these and other similar groups like Labour Against Antisemitism are part of the antisemitism industry that should be exposed and investigated as smearing Palestine supporters and providing a front for Israel to distract from its crimes by weaponising antisemitism and whipping up a frenzy and fear in academia and other spheres of society.