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An item in the New York Times this morning caught my eye. Featuring a picture of a woman attired in a shawl that seems to represent the colors of the Palestinian flag, it read:
This year’s Turner Prize, the prestigious British art award, was awarded to Jasleen Kaur, an artist whose recent installation work focuses on her childhood growing up in a Sikh community in Scotland.
A small but noisy pro-Palestinian protest took place outside Tate Britain, the art museum in London where the prize ceremony was held, and Kaur, on accepting the award, called for Tate to end ties with Israel. “It’s not a radical demand—this should not risk an artist’s career or safety,” she said, adding: “Free Palestine.”
Since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023, many artists have signed letters calling Israel’s retaliation in Gaza a genocide, while Jewish and Israeli donors have often felt threatened by the level of vitriol directed toward them. (NYT, 5/12/24)
This item represents in a nutshell the dilemma of dealing with this issue and joining this discussion. Assuming for a moment a naive position, which I obviously do not own, it makes you wonder: What is the relevance of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to this prestigious event, recognizing an artistic achievement? Why is there a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside? What is the connection, if any, of this artist, raised in a small Sikh community in England, to the Middle East and its turbulence? And why, in accepting her prestigious prize, does she end her acceptance speech with the call, “Free Palestine”? To underline and round off the significance of this cameo event, we are told that she is not alone in this, and that many artists have expressed their critical view of Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.
Indeed, this small item is representative of the current emotional upheaval that surrounds this conflict. Many of those responding to the crisis from afar are influenced by the written and televised press and social media, which in many