Israeli vandalises Swedish suicide bomber art

Hurricane · January 17, 2004, 16:16

Quote:

Stockholm - Israel's ambassador to Sweden was kicked out of Stockholm's Museum of National Antiquities after he destroyed an artwork featuring a picture of a Palestinian suicide bomber, the artists said on Saturday.

The incident, widely reported in the Swedish media, occurred at the opening on Friday of the "Making Differences" exhibit, part of an upcoming international conference on genocide hosted by the Swedish government and in which Israel is scheduled to participate.

Sweden's foreign ministry said on Saturday it would summon ambassador Zvi Mazel to a meeting to explain himself.

"We will contact him on Monday to arrange a meeting. We want to give him a chance to explain himself. We feel that it is unacceptable for him to destroy art in this way," ministry spokesperson Anna Larsson told AFP.

'For me it was intolerable and an insult to the families of the victims'
The art installation, called Snow White and located in the museum's courtyard, featured a basin filled with red water, designed to look like blood.

A sailboat with the name Snow White floated on the water, and placed like a sail was a photo of a smiling Hanadi Jaradat, the female lawyer who blew herself up in the Haifa suicide bombing attack in October, which killed 21 Israelis.

"For me it was intolerable and an insult to the families of the victims. As ambassador to Israel I could not remain indifferent to such an obscene misrepresentation of reality," the ambassador told Swedish news agency TT.

According to museum director Kristian Berg, the ambassador went berserk in front of the 400 specially-invited guests when he saw the piece.

"He pulled out the plugs and threw one of the spotlights into the fountain which caused the entire installation to short-circuit and made it totally life-threatening," he told TT.

'When I saw her picture in the paper, I thought she looked like Snow White'
One of the two artists who created the work, Israeli-born Dror Feiler, told AFP the ambassador was "totally unreasonable and undiplomatic" and would not listen to his explanations.

"He said he was ashamed that I was a Jew," Feiler said. "We see this as an offensive assault on our right to express our thoughts and feelings."

The other artist, Feiler's Swedish wife Gunilla Skoeld Feiler, told daily Expressen that the work was "not a glorification of the suicide bomber."

"I wanted to show how incomprehensible it is that a mother-of-two, who is a lawyer no less, can do such a thing," she said.

"When I saw her picture in the paper, I thought she looked like Snow White, that's why I gave that name to the piece," she added.

Dror Feiler was to perform a piece of music but refused to do so as long as the ambassador remained at the scene.

"Ultimately we had to escort the ambassador out of the museum," museum director Berg said, adding that he did not consider the artwork to be a provocation.

"It is rather an invitation to think about why such things happen in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

The museum's artistic director, Thomas Nordanstad, said he had given the artists the go-ahead to create the piece, and had "hoped it would lead to an artistic dialogue".

The artwork was repaired and was on Saturday on view to the public, despite Israel's insistence that it be disassembled.

It was not immediately known whether the incident would affect Israel's participation at the "Stockholm International Forum - Preventing Genocide" conference, which is to take place from January 26 to 28. - Sapa-AFP

Link: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click...6B235&set_id=1

So, do you think the ambassador did the right thing, or did he misunderstand the installation?

Here is a pic:

Combat Ingrid · January 17, 2004, 16:23

You can find the accompanying text here .

Quote:

She secretly crossed into Israel, charged into a Haifa restaurant, shot a security guard, blew herself up and murdered 19 innocent civilians

Yes, it certainly glorifies the suicide bombings

General Ludd · January 17, 2004, 16:56

He was only kicked out of the museum? An ambassador who vandalizes artwork in a museum (or anything, really) should be kicked out of the country.

Nubclear · January 17, 2004, 17:03

Quote:

Originally posted by Osweld
He was only kicked out of the museum? An ambassador who vandalizes artwork in a museum (or anything, really) should be kicked out of the country.

Really, I'm sure the swedes have a law against such a thing?

Nubclear · January 17, 2004, 17:16

Just chatted with an Israeli...erez from CFC...
He says that this is pro-suicide bomber because it doesn't have anything condemning the holocaust.

Verto · January 17, 2004, 17:34

Quote:

"It is rather an invitation to think about why such things happen in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

Yeah, I'm seeing the connection..

Sirotnikov · January 17, 2004, 17:40

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She secretly crossed into Israel, charged into a Haifa restaurant, shot a security guard, blew herself up and murdered 19 innocent civilians

Yes, it certainly glorifies the suicide bombings

You'd be surprised how a large group of people would see this description as glorifying. And not just moslem fanatics.

If it's not enough that we have artwork gloryfying suicide bombers in every school in gaza and the west bank, we need it in Europe too. Great.

Just imagine an artwork of Miloshevic or Hitler, which is "inviting people to think of genocide".

Bereta_Eder · January 17, 2004, 17:43

Well to some people's minds they're not terrorists but freedom fighters so it's ok. Also about inocents dying they say the same happens to Palestinians but they don't have F-16s. As always kindly don't shoot the messanger (me). I am as neutral as a true nuetral elf.

Hurricane · January 17, 2004, 17:46

I don't blame the ambassador. I find that piece of artwork to be of extremely bad taste.

St Leo · January 17, 2004, 17:47

Quote:

Originally posted by Sirotnikov

Quote:

Originally posted by Combat Ingrid
You can find the accompanying text here .

Quote:

She secretly crossed into Israel, charged into a Haifa restaurant, shot a security guard, blew herself up and murdered 19 innocent civilians

Yes, it certainly glorifies the suicide bombings

You'd be surprised how a large group of people would see this description as glorifying. And not just moslem fanatics.

If it's not enough that we have artwork gloryfying suicide bombers in every school in gaza and the west bank, we need it in Europe too. Great.

Just imagine an artwork of Miloshevic or Hitler, which is "inviting people to think of genocide". [/q]

Black and white picture of Hitler in a red pool.

Caption:
He seized control of government in Germany, invaded neighbouring countries, bombed England, murdered eleven million innocent civilians, and shot himself.

Seems fine to me.

Verto · January 17, 2004, 17:49

Quote:

Originally posted by Hurricane
I don't blame the ambassador. I find that piece of artwork to be of extremely bad taste.

Bereta_Eder · January 17, 2004, 17:49

Quote:

I wanted to show how incomprehensible it is that a mother-of-two, who is a lawyer no less, can do such a thing," she said.

And here my friends is all the money, as we say in these parts.

General Ludd · January 17, 2004, 17:53

It doesn't even matter what the message of the piece was. You don't go into a museum and destroy artwork.

Nubclear · January 17, 2004, 17:55

Quote:

Originally posted by Osweld
It doesn't even matter what the message of the piece was. You don't go into a museum and destroy artwork.

Bereta_Eder · January 17, 2004, 17:56

I can sympathize with the Israeli ambassador actually. It was not uncalled for what he did, from his perspective. Undiplomatic sure although very media-friendly but certaintly not unprovoked. from his point of view.

Nubclear · January 17, 2004, 18:01

Quote:

Originally posted by paiktis22
I can sympathize with the Israeli ambassador actually. It was not uncalled for what he did, from his perspective. Undiplomatic sure although very media-friendly but certaintly not unprovoked. from his point of view.

Um....Every actions is provoked, from the point of view of the instigator

KrazyHorse · January 17, 2004, 18:14

The ambassador's a dumbass. Should be tossed out of Sweden.

a) "Glorifying" my ass

b) Even if it was, too bad. It's not his property, and he's an ambassador.

Bereta_Eder · January 17, 2004, 18:17

Quote:

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar

Um....Every actions is provoked, from the point of view of the instigator

Sure. What I mean is I can understand his reaction.

Combat Ingrid · January 17, 2004, 18:22

Quote:

Originally posted by St Leo
Black and white picture of Hitler in a red pool.

Caption:
He seized control of government in Germany, invaded neighbouring countries, bombed England, murdered eleven million innocent civilians, and shot himself.

Seems fine to me.

Apparently that would be glorifying Mr Hitler's deeds... Well, if you have a sick mind maybe it is...

Quote:

It doesn't even matter what the message of the piece was. You don't go into a museum and destroy artwork.

KrazyHorse · January 17, 2004, 18:23

Burn the books you don't agree with!

Bereta_Eder · January 17, 2004, 18:26

he who can get even more "holier than thou" wins a fake rolex

He is human, humans do impulsive things sometimes. It's in their nature. Doesn't make him a little book burning hitler. Besides that was very media-friendly so maybe it wasn't impulsive at all but that's just my cynisism speaking. Maybe he just acted on impusle. let him without sin cast the first stone etc

Oncle Boris · January 17, 2004, 18:26

I see there is a bunch of idiots here, with absolutely no clue as to what art really is.

There are plenty of novels, poems, poetry, paintings and films about Pol Pot, Hitler or Stalin. Then what? Artwork offers a perspective on a topic, but it is not a perspective in itself. Even when it is (Brecht, Saving Private Ryan, etc), then there is no point in destroying it. That ambassador is a dumbass.

Winston · January 17, 2004, 18:28

Displaying the image of a smiling suicide bomber on board a toy boat named Snow White is not art. It's blatant political advertising and glorifying of a murderous terrorist mindset.

The Israeli ambassador was entirely justified to act as he did, such an insensitive exhibit should not be tolerated, not even under the guise of freedom of speech. If I had the guts, I'd have done the same.

I would like to think there is such a thing as common decency, even in the misguided "art" establishment of today.

Oncle Boris · January 17, 2004, 18:29

Quote:

Originally posted by Winston
Displaying the image of a smiling suicide bomber on board a toy boat named Snow White is not art. It's blatant political advertising and glorifying of a murderous terrorist mindset.

You should write a book on contemporary art. Your level of understanding seems immense.

Edan · January 17, 2004, 18:32

It's not artwork. It's tasteless and innapropriate propoganda.

Incorrect behavior of the ambassador.

(I guess he had a "failure of imagination".)

Amusing that this is an offensive assault and creates a diplomatic row while a suicide bomber gets glorified as 'Snow White' in "artwork".

KrazyHorse · January 17, 2004, 18:32

Quote:

Originally posted by paiktis22
he who can get even more "holier than thou" wins a fake rolex

He is human, humans do impulsive things sometimes. It's in their nature. Doesn't make him a little book burning hitler. Besides that was very media-friendly so maybe it wasn't impulsive at all but that's just my cynisism speaking. Maybe he just acted on impusle. let him without sin cast the first stone etc

Who said Hitler?

I don't know about you, but I've gained the ability to control my urges to the point that I don't break things just because the make me angry.

KrazyHorse · January 17, 2004, 18:33

Quote:

Originally posted by Edan
Amusing that this is offensive and creates a diplomatic row while a suicide bomber gets glorified as 'Snow White' in "artwork".

Glorified as snow white?

Caption reads that she's a mass murderer, and she's surrounded by blood.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Bereta_Eder · January 17, 2004, 18:34

Yeah but you're not him so don't judge your little canadian life with is

KrazyHorse · January 17, 2004, 18:35

No, I'm not an ambassador who is supposed to be even more self-controlled than a private citizen.

Edan · January 17, 2004, 18:37

DP