ADL Supports Censorship. Crayonophobia?

ADL Joins Local Jewish Agencies in Successfully Urging Oakland’s Museum of Children’s Art to Cancel Controversial Exhibit of Art by Gaza Children
Along with the East Bay Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Federation of the East Bay, ADL persuaded Oakland’s Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA) to reconsider an exhibit of war-themed art from Gazan children. The exhibit was sponsored by the Middle East Children’s Alliance which has a long history of strident anti-Israel activism. It contained numerous violent images depicting a politically biased view squarely and exclusively against Israel.

That was an excerpt from a recent email sent to supporters of the ADL, once a group that opposed prejudice and now a group that foments hate and political repression. You can see the whole email here.

I don't think i am alone in wondering what it is that the ADL fears from kids crayons. Is it ...crayonophobia? Look that up in your DSM IV

Maybe it is the idea that people might see the suffering of Palestinian children, and might respond in a human way.

Israel Lobby takes Credit for Nixing Kids Art Exhibit

The Tweet above is from the Jewish Federation of the East Bay organization and its success in censoring a children's art exhibit that was scheduled to be shown at the Museum of Children's Art in Oakland, California later this month. They would like to represent themselves as being "the" voice of the Jewish community of the East Bay, but in fact they are often the voice of anti-Palestinian extremism that is not representative of the whole Jewish community. This is yet another example of the efforts of that anti-Palestinian lobby censoring Palestinian cultural expression.

Here is a press release from Middle East Children's Alliance, that was working to bring this art to the people of the Bay Area.

Oakland Museum of Children's Art Shuts Down Palestinian Children’s Exhibit

Media Advisory

For Immediate Release

Berkeley, CA— The Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland (MOCHA) has decided to cancel an exhibit of art by Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), which was partnering with MOCHA to present the exhibit, was informed of the decision by the Museum’s board president on Thursday, September 8, 2011. For several months, MECA and the museum had been working together on the exhibit, which is titled “A Child’s View From Gaza.”

MECA has learned that there was a concerted effort by pro-Israel organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area to pressure the museum to reverse its decision to display Palestinian children’s art.

Barbara Lubin, the Executive Director of MECA, expressed her dismay that the museum decided to censor this exhibit in contradiction of its mission “to ensure that the arts are a fundamental part of the lives of all children.”

“We understand all too well the enormous pressure that the museum came under. But who wins? The museum doesn’t win. MECA doesn’t win. The people of the Bay Area don’t win. Our basic constitutional freedom of speech loses. The children in Gaza lose,” she said.

“The only winners here are those who spend millions of dollars censoring any criticism of Israel and silencing the voices of children who live every day under military siege and occupation.”

Unfortunately, this disturbing incident is just one example of many across the nation in which certain groups have successfully silenced the Palestinian perspective, which includes artistic expression. In fact, some organizations have even earmarked funds for precisely these efforts. Last year, regrettably the Jewish Federation of North America and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs launched a $6 million initiative to effectively silence Palestinian voices even in “cultural institutions.”

The free exhibit, co-sponsored by nearly twenty local organizations, was scheduled to open on September 24, and featured special activities for children and families, including a cartooning workshop and poetry readings.

The Gaza Strip, which has a population of 1.6 million, has been under siege since Israel imposed a blockade against it in 2006. The United Nations and many human rights organizations across the world have condemned the blockade as an inhumane and cruel form of collective punishment.

“Even while the children in Gaza are living under Israeli policies that deprive them of every basic necessity, they managed through art, to express their realities and hopes. It’s really very sad that there are people in the U.S. silencing them and shredding their dreams,” said Ziad Abbas, MECA’s Associate Director.

MECA is disappointed in the museum’s decision to deny Bay Area residents the opportunity to view Palestinian children’s art, and is committed to seeking an alternative venue.

“We made a promise to the children that their art will be shown and we are going to keep that promise,” said Lubin.

For media requests, please contact:
Leena Al-Arian
Communications Coordinator, MECA
Leena@mecaforpeace.org

510-548-0542
http://www.mecaforpeace.org

This is Not Over.
First, this art will be exhibited. MECA says it will be either inside or, if need be, OUTSIDE the museum. Even if the anti-Palestinian fearmongers see the kids art as an "existential threat to Israel" or whatever it is they are claiming, they will ultimately fail to prevent an exhibition of this art, and to an audience much, much larger than was originally envisioned. Stop AIPAC will work hard to expose the heavy-handed tactics of the groups that oppose any expression of dissent against Israel. We are already gearing up for protests of aipac in December, during their "membership meetings" in the Bay Area. This would be a good time to make a donation to make this bigger than ever.


UPDATE. Take to the Streets.

The board of directors of Oakland’s Museum of Children’s Art cancelled “A Child’s View from Gaza,” a long-planned exhibit of Palestinian children’s drawings. The Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Federation of the East Bay openly claim credit for forcing the MOCHA board to cancel the exhibit.

Protest MOCHA’s Cave-In

Friday, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m.

Outside MOCHA, 538 Ninth St. near Clay, Oakland

(a few blocks from the 12th St.-City Center BART)

The Bay Area and Oakland in particular are known for our diversity and commitment to free expression and social justice. We will not be censored. The show must go on!

Family-Friendly Grand Opening: “A Child’s View from Gaza”

Saturday, Sept. 24, 1-3 p.m.

Join us for art, music, poetry, and food to celebrate the

the opening of the exhibit outside MOCHA at 538 Ninth St.

near Clay, Oakland.

For more information, go to http://www.mecaforpeace.org or call (510) 548-0542

The Role of AIPAC in Supporting Islamophobia

The Center for American Progress has come out with a very important report that should be required reading for Americans working for a peaceful and just future. It's called Fear Inc, and it is about the well-funded and well-organized campaign to spread fear and hatred against Muslims in America and around the world. A small number of donors and "charitable" groups do much of the heavy-lifting in making possible this campaign, supporting key groups and pseudo-intellectuals that in turn create hate and division in the US, promoting myths and ignorance.

We believe that the report should have given significant credit to AIPAC in its efforts to spread Islamophobia in the US. We also believe that we need to look to the motivations of those that are supporting this campaign of hate.

Here is a summary of the report from one of the authors:


The Center for American Progress is a large organization that has the ear of at least a segment of the US establishment, especially within the Democratic Party. So we are happy that the well-funded anti-Muslim disinformation campaign is exposed in this venue. The Center is getting attention and in return they are getting flak from the Extreme-Right, which means must be doing something right.

We do believe that this report did leave something important out, namely the support AIPAC has given to the anti-Muslim movement in America. The report lists the key "scholars" who create the myths and those media and religious leaders who promote the myths. Not mentioned is the support they have received from aipac, an organization that helps these players gain credibility they would otherwise lack. For example, it lists Rev. Hagee and his Christians United for Israel organization and its responsibility for promoting anti-Muslim hate themes, but it does not mention the symbiotic relationship of this organization and aipac over the years, starting especially with providing Hagee with an opportunity of being a keynote speaker at the 2007 AIPAC policy conference and continuing even now, as several AIPAC leaders were present at the CUFI conference (that featured Glenn Beck, a key media backer of Islamophobia listed in Fear Inc report). Several other major players identified in the Fear Inc report were prominent in the CUFI event. (I wrote about it here, and you can see a chilling account of the event right here) Not only did aipac leaders featured prominently at the event, but so did the Israeli government, with the presence of Michael B. Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States and Prime Minister Netanyahu via satellite.

The "scholars" listed in the report have also found support from aipac. For example, Steve Emerson was one of those whose extremism was part of the 2010 AIPAC Policy Conference. As a final example of many, just this year the aipac policy conference featured Douglas Murray, a British supporter of the "English Defence League", a fascist group of anti-Muslim street thugs.

Lacking in the Fear Inc report is any real analysis of the motivations of the players in creating fear and hatred of Muslims and Arabs. We know the consequences of this campaign will result in random acts of violence against Muslims or those that are perceived to be Muslim. We know it may even lead to great acts of violence, such as what transpired in Norway. But that is probably not the actual goal of the institutional funders of the campaign. We believe that many of the institutional backers of Islamophobia have a clear goal: Making War and Oppression of Muslims, and Arab people in general easier for the American public to accept. A prerequisite for making war possible has always been to create fear and hysteria among the general populace. Support (or at least general indifference) for Israeli oppression of Palestinians among US public is only possible because of the relative success of the propaganda campaign in dehumanizing Muslims and Arabs.

Another report well worth reading on Islamophobia is Max Blumenthal's "The Great Islamophobic Crusade". He talks about the Israel Lobby and its central role in funding this crusade.

An excerpt:

Besides providing the initial energy for the Islamophobic crusade, conservative elements from within the pro-Israel lobby bankrolled the network's apparatus, enabling it to influence the national debate. One philanthropist in particular has provided the beneficence to propel the campaign ahead. He is a little-known Los Angeles-area software security entrepreneur named Aubrey Chernick, who operates out of a security consulting firm blandly named the National Center for Crisis and Continuity Coordination. A former trustee of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which has served as a think tank for the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a frontline lobbying group for Israel, Chernick is said to be worth $750 million.

Our work is vital then in exposing the relatively small number of key players involved in anti-Muslim organizing and exposing their extremism and dangerous agenda, including groups like aipac, that has the facade of being a "moderate" mainstream organization. We can then delegitimize and marginalize these individuals/organizations that wish to foment hate and work instead to create a future that values all people of all religious and non-religious traditions as equal and valued members of society. Part of that work will be to Stop AIPAC. (Do you really think your congressperson should be supporting an organization that supports organized hate in America?) This report from the Center for American Progress is an important step, despite its shortcomings, so it should be widely promoted. What is clear is that we need to see many more on the streets as we protest at AIPAC and other such events around the country.