Tuesday 23 November 2010

Paris museum : suspended Israel-bashing exhibit to re-open today

Update: according to AFP, Kai Wiedenhöfer's exhibition is to open today.  It is difficult to tell because as reported "a thorough search of the museum's website on Wednesday by Israel National News did not reveal any mention of the exhibition either in French or in English, nor any indication that it was either currently being shown, or was scheduled to appear". Clever tactics by the museum. 

Source: Elder of Ziyon (Paris museum suspends Israel-bashing exhibit)

I mentioned on November 10th that the Museum of Modern Art in Paris was showing an "award winning" collection of photos from the Gaza Strip meant to bash Israel. Not only were the photos biased, but the very rules of the award were created for a single purpose - to compare Israel to Nazis.

Last Sunday, a group of Zionists mobilized on Facebook to create a unique counter-protest. In the words of the leader of the group, Jean-Patrick Grumberg :

"With the active support of members of the Europe-Israel group, volunteers recruited on Facebook, and members of the JDL, leaflets was distributed on Sunday 21 November, before the exhibition opened.

The flyer was a perfectly neutral, and could not be construed as an attack. Photos, taken from Palestinian sites, with this title: "Disturbing Gaza photos." Thus, we followed the logic of the show: the audience was invited to see for themselves that there is another truth, in Gaza.


My goal was to restore some balance. To inform the public, and show this side of Gaza hidden by the media. The result was well above our expectations.

The administration of the museum became trapped by its ignorance - or complicity, we will probably never know - revealed by this leaflet. The photos revealed that they became the purveyors of propaganda disguised as art exhibition, as was revealed by our photos.

Consequence: the museum's management has decided, on Sunday 21 November, to close the exhibition for a period of one week."

The team of volunteers distributing the flyers suffered - how strange - Judeophobic and Israélophobic insults: the truth revealed in the leaflets, I must admit, is a rare attack, because nothing and nobody can challenge the images - the pro-Palestinians know only too well.

The expo is not definitively closed, and we already expect the usual reactions of propaganda specialists."

This is a brilliant example of how pro-Israel activism should work.

Exhibition at Paris Museum of Modern Art: parallel between Nazi camp/Gaza Strip

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