2024 was a year of anti-Palestinian censorship and active artistic rebellion | Opinions

For artists, it is difficult to think about the past year without thinking about the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza, which claimed the lives of more than 45,000 Palestinians by official count or more. 220,000 According to realistic estimates.

While art is something to be enjoyed, because it enriches every aspect of our lives, identities, and culture, it is also an essential component of struggle. Art is powerful, it allows us to share feelings and stories with people all over the world even if we don’t share a common language. Israel knows this, which is why it targets everyone who has the talent and passion to convey messages about the horrific reality in Gaza.

Israel appears to be using this tactic in its broader strategy of ethnic cleansing to eliminate Palestinians who inspire not only their own people, but all who wage war against injustice.

Painters, illustrators, poets, photographers, writers, designers… many talented Palestinians have already been killed. It is our job to make sure they are not forgotten. They are not numbers, and their actions should always be remembered.

We must tell people about Heba Zaqout, the 39-year-old painter, poet and novelist, who was killed with two of her children in an Israeli airstrike. Her rich paintings of Palestinian women and the holy sites of Jerusalem were her way of speaking to the “outside world.”

We must say the name of the famous painter and art teacher Fathi Ghaben, whose beautiful works depicting the Palestinian resistance should be seen by everyone.

We have to know the words Rifaat Al-Arirone of the most brilliant writers and teachers in Gaza and who lectured at the Islamic University of Gaza.

We have to talk about beauty in art Mahasen al-KhatibWho was martyred as a result of an Israeli air strike on Jabalia refugee camp. In her latest drawing, she honored 19-year-old Shaaban al-Dalu, who was burned to death in the Israeli attack on the Al-Aqsa Hospital complex.

We must also remind the world of the writer Youssef Dawwas, the novelist Nour al-Din Hajjaj, the poet Muhammad Ahmad, and the designer Not even the FrankishThe photographer is Majd Al-Arands.

However, ensuring that their stories and works are not erased also means that we need to take action, wherever we are. Honoring these martyrs and celebrating their art requires us to go beyond words.

Some in the art world already know this. They joined the resistance in artistic spaces and ensured the condemnation of Israel’s crimes on their platforms. There have been many acts of solidarity and courage throughout the past year.

When the Barbican Center in London canceled Indian writer Pankaj Mishra’s lecture on the Palestinian genocide in February, art collectors protested. Lorenzo Legarda Leviste and Fahd Mayte Loretta Pettway’s artwork has been withdrawn from the center’s exhibition.

“It is imperative on all of us to stand up to institutional violence, and demand transparency and accountability in its wake… We will never accept censorship, oppression, and racism within its walls,” they wrote.

In March, Egyptian visual artist Mohamed Abla returned the Goethe Medal, awarded by Germany’s Goethe Institute for outstanding artistic achievement, in protest of the German government’s complicity in the Israeli genocide.

Ahead of the opening of the Venice Biennale in April, more than 24,000 artists from around the world – including former Biennale participants and recipients of prestigious awards – signed an open letter calling on organizers to exclude Israel from the event. An Israeli artist ultimately decided not to open her gallery.

In September, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri refused to accept an award from the Noguchi Museum in New York after three employees were fired for wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh.

Earlier this month, the artist Jasleen Kaurwho received the prestigious Turner Prize, used her acceptance speech to condemn genocide, call for a free Palestine, ban weapons, and expand solidarity with Palestinians. She stood in solidarity with all those protesting outside the Tate Britain Museum in London, where the event was held, and called on the museum to withdraw funds and projects associated with the Israeli government.

“I want to echo the calls of the protesters outside. “A protest made up of artists, cultural workers, Tate staff and students with whom I stand firmly,” Kaur said. “This is not a radical requirement, and this should not jeopardize the artist’s career or safety.”

Despite these acts of solidarity, the ferocious censorship, omission, repression and persecution of art related to Palestine has not abated over the past 12 months.

In January, the Indiana University Museum of Art canceled an exhibition by Palestinian artist Samia Halabi.

In May, the Colorado town of Vail canceled the residency of Danielle C. Walker, a Native American artist who compared the plight of Palestinians to that of Native Americans.

In July, the Royal Academy of Arts removed two pieces from its Young Artists Summer Show due to their association with the Israeli war on Gaza. This came after the pro-Israel Board of Deputies of British Jews sent a letter to her regarding the artwork.

In November, the Altonallee Festival in Hamburg canceled an exhibition of artwork produced by children in Gaza after posts attacking it on social media.

These are just a few examples of the massive censorship that Palestinian art and artists and creatives who have expressed solidarity with Palestine have faced over the past year. Silencing and whitewashing within cultural spaces have also occurred at the institutional level.

In the UK, Arts Council England (ACE) has warned arts institutions that “political statements” could negatively impact funding agreements. This was revealed following a Freedom of Information request lodged by trade union Equity, which also showed that ACE and the Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DMCS) even met about “reputational risks related to the conflict between Israel and Gaza”.

Some have highlighted the inconsistency of ACE’s actions given that it publicly expressed solidarity with Ukraine in 2022 following the Russian invasion. But ACE is not alone in showing blatant double standards in dealing with the massacre in Gaza.

The brilliant Palestinian artist Basma Al-Sharif articulated institutional hypocrisy perfectly in her message to the “corrupt neoliberal art world.”

“I hope this genocide finds you well,” she wrote. What exactly are you doing these days? Why did it take months to write a statement, if you did at all? Why didn’t you just close? Why can’t you boycott Israel as you did with Russia, and as you did with apartheid in South Africa? Did you see the number of statements there? Open letters? Call for a strike? How many hashtags have you all decided it will take to atone for your sins?

There are no excuses for complacency regarding the genocide in Gaza. The Palestinian people face annihilation, and our responsibility to them is to ensure that our governments, institutions, and industries are not left in peace until they cut ties with Israel, stop silencing those who speak out against its crimes, and commit to liberating Palestine.

I urge all those in the art world – a group of whom were vitally represented in the protest outside the Tate when the CORE was awarded – to remember the words of the American author James Baldwin:

“The specific role of the artist, then, is to illuminate this darkness, to illuminate the paths through that vast forest, so that we do not lose sight, in all our work, of its purpose, which is, ultimately, to make the world a more humane habitation.”

States and their institutions may use this scramble for funding and platforms to suppress our expressions of solidarity, but they will not ultimately win. Those who give up their personal and professional gains may try to convince themselves that this movement will die down and the issue will be forgotten, but until Palestine is liberated – and this will happen – we keep the receipts and notice the absence. We hear silence about the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza. It is not too late to stand on the right side of history.

A happy new year will only be possible when Palestinians and all those facing oppression are liberated.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.