# Ambassador attacks art: fighting anti-Semitism, or blocking free expression? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 18, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133 "2004-01-18T19:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![\_possum\_stalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b77776/32.png) [@\_possum\_stalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_possum_stalker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/1 "2004-01-18T19:21:17Z")
The Israeli ambassador to Sweden has attacked an artwork he found offensive at a gallery opening in Sweden. > [@](#): > > STOCKHOLM (AFP) - 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. > > 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. > … > 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. > > 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. > … > > 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 January 26-28. -[http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=1514&u=/afp/20040117/wl\_mideast\_afp/sweden\_israel\_art\_040117141807](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=1514&u=/afp/20040117/wl_mideast_afp/sweden_israel_art_040117141807) Ariel Sharon has praised the ambassador’s actions: > [@](#): > > Israel has called on the Swedish Government to dismantle the exhibit, which has a boat floating in a pool of red liquid. > > “I think the phenomenon [of anti-Semitism] is so serious that it would have been forbidden not to have acted on the spot,” Mr Sharon said. > > But the expatriate Israeli artist, Dror Feiler, rejected the criticism of his work, saying it had a message of openness and conciliation. > > “I’m absolutely opposed to suicide bombers,” he added. > > Mr Feiler called the envoy “an intellectual dwarf” who had tried to “stop free speech and free artistic expression”. > > Sweden’s foreign ministry has summoned Mr Mazel to give an explanation for his actions on Monday. > … > “I called our ambassador in Sweden Zvi Mazel last night and thanked him for his strength in dealing with increasing anti-Semitism, and told him that the entire government stands behind him,” Mr Sharon told a cabinet meeting Sunday. > > “I think Ambassador Mazel behaved in an appropriate way.” > > Israeli foreign ministry spokesman David Saranger had urged the Swedish Government to “take steps to remove it”. > > The director of the museum, Kristian Berg, said the installation would remain in place. -[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3407517.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3407517.stm) I find his behavior quite extraordinary. Putting a picture of a suicide bomber on a toy sailboat floating in a pool of ‘blood’ is not, IMO, “a call to genocide.” This seems like an egregarious example of the supposed “anti-Semitism” in Europe, which is little more than willingness to approach the Israeli-Palestinian question in a less than pathologically partisan manner. So: 1. Was Ambassador Mazel justified in his actions? 2. Is it ever justifiable to physically attack artwork? My answers are 1. No, and 2. Yes, but it must directly advocate crime, e.g., a painting which unambiguously encouraged suicide bombing or other violent crime. Where should we draw the line? ---
**Author:** ![\_possum\_stalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b77776/32.png) [@\_possum\_stalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_possum_stalker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/2 "2004-01-18T19:24:58Z")
By Doke, let’s try the links again. [APF, via Yahoo News, “Israeli ambassador kicked out of Swedish museum after vandalizing art”](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=1514&u=/afp/20040117/wl_mideast_afp/sweden_israel_art_040117141807) [BBC, “Sharon praises ‘art vandal’ envoy”](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3407517.stm) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/3 "2004-01-18T19:28:00Z")
He was totally inappropriate and should be ashamed of himself. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/4 "2004-01-18T20:02:20Z")
I agree with the OP in not being able to understand why somebody would immediately leap to the conclusion that this work suggested some kind of endorsement of terrorism. Seems to me that the connotations are just the opposite: this smiling suicide bomber is shown literally wading through an ocean of “blood”, right? Hardly an endorsement of her actions. And to describe the work as “anti-Semitic”, especially when one of the artists is himself an Israeli-born Jew, seems really weird. (After all, even if it **were** explicitly critical of Israeli policies, that wouldn’t make it a criticism of Jews as a group.) “Anti-Semitism” for some people seems to have degenerated into a mere term of abuse for anything that could possibly be construed as any kind of criticism of Israel. I hope that some of our conservative posters who complain so loudly about the destructive and stifling “political correctness” of the political left will be along to comment on this outburst from the other side. However, I disagree that it’s **ever** acceptable to physically vandalize a piece of artwork that isn’t your property (and to do so by throwing an electrical appliance into a pool of water (!) runs the risk of qualifying you for a Darwin Award). Civilized people respond to unacceptable art or other forms of public expression by complaining to those responsible for displaying it and/or by protesting publicly. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/5 "2004-01-18T20:31:06Z")
The ambassador lost it. No doubt. But this work was beyond bad taste and its inclusion in that particular venue was beyond mere bad judgement. The exhibit is linked to a conference on genocide, a continuing series which began in response to polls that showed a surprisingly high percentage of Swedes didn’t know about The Holocaust. This year’s sessions are devoted to prevention of future holocausts. Given that Israel has been vilified by portions of Europe and, in bit of hyperbole so extreme and one-sided that many Jews feel it must be based on antisemitic inclinations, has been labelled as Nazis and accused of genocide against Palestinians, Israel was cautious about this conference. Would this be a Durbin where Israel is vilified above all nations? They were, apparently assured that Israel/Palestine would be kept out of the proceedings; > [@](#): > > In a statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the Swedish government had promised not to link the anti-genocide conference with the Middle East conflict. -[http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=QPUTR052EWUXKCRBAEOCFEY?type=industryNews&storyID=4152404&pageNumber=1](http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=QPUTR052EWUXKCRBAEOCFEY?type=industryNews&storyID=4152404&pageNumber=1) So imagine yourself the Israeli ambassador, under those circumstances, invited to this gala event, and without any forwarning an installation is in front of you that to shows a smiling terrorist suicide murderer apparently being glorified? Yeah, he lost it. But not without cause. He should have just walked out and pulled Israel out of the conference. The museum diector who was idiotic enough to approve this work for this venue without so much as forewarning the Israeli ambassador (who was his invited guest, not a surprise visitor afterall) about it should have been canned. No one looks good here now. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/6 "2004-01-18T20:38:39Z")
And as to the concern that > [@](#): > > “Anti-Semitism” for some people seems to have degenerated into a mere term of abuse for anything that could possibly be construed as any kind of criticism of Israel. you are invited to a thread that has been discussing just that. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4474625#post4474625](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4474625#post4474625) One of my last posts in that thread summarized the positions so far: > [@](#): > > Is there an increase in overt antisemitic incidents in Europe? > > Yes. Despite Alde’s distate for statistics and our EU’ers lack of personal witnessing of them, we have hard numbers on this. Evidence has been amply provided. They are mainly committed by Arab immigrants. The Far Right hate groups are attacking Arab immigrants more than they are Jews nowadays. We disagree on whether these attacks are exclusively the result of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict or secondary to reimported and sanctioned anti-Semitic bile in Arab media. > > Is there an increase in antisemitism in Europe outside of that immigrant population? Is there significant antisemitism in Europe outside of that population? > > I would say that there is no significant increase, but that historically antisemitic viewpoints have continued in Europe and have found socially acceptable means of expression. In my view vilification of Israel is part of that. (the particular poll of the op is not, IMHO, good evidence of such) There are critiques of Israeli policies and actions and there are things that cross the line. Comparing Israeli actions to genocide and the Nazis for example cross the line. Others believe that there is a rise. In these regards it is scary that countries that scored BEST for having little antisemitism had 8% of respondents not wanting to have Jewish neighbors and feeling that Jews have too much influence. > > Others on this board dispute both these contentions. They believe that any criticism of Israel is fair game and that if someone attacks Israel alone it is just because …., well it doesn’t matter why because the rest of us “aren’t empowered” to question their motivations. To them the millennium plus of European Jew hating and mistreatment is ancient history and is now gone, irrelevant to today’s enlightened world; expressed concern that it had only gone under the surface and is coming out of its hole blinking as it gets used to the light again, now clothed in righteous concern over the plight of the Palestinians, is Zionist propaganda designed to deflect attention from Israeli actions, is Jews whining that they “are always your victims.” Afterall, they don’t know anyone who says anything explicitly antisemitic. They even have Jewish friends. Feel free to join in. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/7 "2004-01-18T20:41:21Z")
Regardless of how you read it, it sounds like bad art. My first guess would have been that it was attempting to point out the irony of Palestinians idealizing as pure someone with so much blood on their hands. I hope that is just a facile interpretation and that there is something more to it. In any case, a fricking **ambassador** , an allegedly trained diplomat, should have acted with more decorum. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/8 "2004-01-18T20:44:37Z")
My Reuters link got a smiling Orthodox Jew in it some how! 🙂 Let’s try again: > **[Breaking International News & Views](https://www.reuters.com/)** On the second page of the link. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/9 "2004-01-18T20:45:16Z")
**DS:** \*The exhibit is linked to a conference on genocide […] “the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the Swedish government had promised not to link the anti-genocide conference with the Middle East conflict.” So imagine yourself the Israeli ambassador, under those circumstances, invited to this gala event, and without any forwarning an installation is in front of you that to shows a smiling terrorist suicide murderer apparently being glorified?\* 😕 “Apparently being glorified”? How you figure? As I said above, though the “message” of the work is pretty obscure to me, I can’t understand how anyone could automatically leap to the conclusion that this was any kind of “glorification” of suicide bombing. If that interpretation seems logical to you, could you kindly explain it to me? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/10 "2004-01-18T20:45:28Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. Was Ambassador Mazel justified in his actions? Not a chance. He sounds like a complete ass. **DSeid** may or may not be right about a growing tide of anti-Semitism in Europe, but oversensitivity and stupidity are NOT appropriate responses. Anti-Semitism is a valid concern, but this is awful behavior in a diplomatic context, and I might also point out that some people throw the term “Anti-Semitic” around MUCH too liberally. > [@](#): > > 1. Is it ever justifiable to physically attack artwork? Absolutely not. It’s artwork, not a physical threat. Just because YOU interpret that it advocates violence doesn’t mean it actually does, which I would think this incident shows. Artwork does not endanger people physically, thus it’s not appropriate to attack it. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/11 "2004-01-18T21:18:25Z")
I feel rather ambivalent about this. One one hand, there has been way too much Israel=1939 Germany and Sharon=Hitler stuff going on in Europe. The normal criticism of Israel has become a pathological fixation for many left-wing and Arab European groups, to the exclusion of many other good causes around the world. It steps above and beyond the normal legitimate criticism and one begins to wonder if there really is antisemitism behind it. Certainly, it is in part driven by antisemitic lies stemming from the Arab world. Whether holding Israel to a higher standard than the rest of the world is antisemitism is debatable – see the other thread for some good opinions on the matter. Making calls for the termination of the State of Israel, though, is nothing but a call to genocide in my book, yet this is exactly the sort of thing we see in many European left-wing media. Israel has been extremely sensitive to these sort of displays since the UN Durban Conference on Racism (in which Israel became the complete focus of the conference to the exclusion of all other causes), and was perhaps only participating because they were assured this Swedish conference wouldn’t be the same. The installation of this artwork with an ambiguous meaning can be quite infuriating and humiliating, and I think is within an expected spectrum of behavior to go nuts like this. You may think the meaning is clear, but to me, it is far from it. First, the poetry accompanying it is less than clear: [http://www.makingdifferences.com/site/calendar.php?lang=en&id=20](http://www.makingdifferences.com/site/calendar.php?lang=en&id=20) Parts of it seem to be condemning the actions of the bomber, but it ends with the line “and the red looked beautiful upon the white.” You may see it as a thing of beauty being surrounded by a sea of blood, thus representing the carnage wrought by the suicide bomber. I could just as easily view it as representing a pure object (the suicide bomber) being buoyed over a sea of blood, rising up above the carnage, and eternally remaining pure and white. Thus glorifying the bombing. The artwork is IMHO not very good, it is out of place. It has ambiguous meaning and brings attention to something that was explicitly off-limits for the conference. The best that can be said is that the artist was looking to provoke a reaction and is now bitchy now that he has succeeded in doing that. Pragmatically, this will be very good for him – his name and work is now being discussed around the world. OTOH, it was a very bad PR move for Israel. The guy is a diplomat and this whole thing could have been handled more diplomatically. His “repression” of the artwork makes a cheap analogy for every op-ed columnist and political cartoonist towards the Israeli “repression” of the Palestinian cause. His destruction of the artwork becomes the equivalent of the bulldozing of a house. Expect to see it in every major European newspaper come Monday. In the end, the Swedish government put an obviously controversial piece of art in a conference where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was explicitly not a focus. IMHO, as much criticism can be levelled against the Swedish government as can be directed against the Israeli ambassador. Ironically, the damage to the artwork was quite temporary (it has been repaired and put back on display) but the probable damage to the Israeli-Swedish relationship will take much longer to heal. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/12 "2004-01-18T21:29:34Z")
I can’t help but look at this as a law school hypothetical. Since “freedom of expression” has been impugned – allegedly – I think I have to. First of all, let’s classify the physical acts of the Israeli: trespassing, conversion, vandalism, whatever. This type of action is clearly illegal in civil or criminal law. So, legally speaking, the action is not “justified”. There is the issue of whether those who support suicide bombers that kill civilians can criticize petty vandalism with a straight face, or more importantly any legitimacy whatsoever. I’ll ignore that. Freedom of expression is pretty simple if you break it down. You have a right to be free from undue coercion for what you say, one. Second, the government should not punish you for what you say. Again, like “undue” in the first part, with a proviso: you can’t advocate or conspire to commit crimes under the guise of “speech.” So, was there a denial of “freedom of speech”? No way. In fact, this controversy will provide much more notoriety. There were no jackbooted government thugs (really) preventing a point of view. BUT, there was a clear act of vandalism. I hate to summarize this to a stupid expression at gift stores, but: “You break it, you bought it.” ---
**Author:** ![Halge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8baadc/32.png) [@Halge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Halge)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/13 "2004-01-18T22:25:34Z")
> [@edwino](#): > > I could just as easily view it as representing a pure object (the suicide bomber) being buoyed over a sea of blood, rising up above the carnage, and eternally remaining pure and white. Thus glorifying the bombing. imo: She is a pure being(ie before suicide), floating in a sea of violience (represented by blood), but there is no land/islands(peace) in sight, so she can but succumb to the sea of blood(ie the violence). It is and was inevitable. As for the Ambassador. He read about the piece of Art and decided to wreck it before he went to the exhibit( without taking into account the three parts, sea, music, text). This I heard from his own mouth. This made me decide he´s a wierd little fellow who should rethink his career choice. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/14 "2004-01-19T04:34:52Z")
Kimstu, Smiling face above a pool of blood with a poem that to me reads like a glorification of revenge killing. Maybe I’ve seen too many movies that feature that theme. Maybe the artist didn’t intend a glorification of revenge killing, but to me it seems like bad communist art work praising the self sacrifice of the heros who give their lives for the cause. With a bit of pretension mixed in. Certainly that is what the ambassador seemed to think too. Artists often leave their work ambiguous and force the viewer to complete it with what they bring.\* Maybe this time it was a bit too ambiguous. Doesn’t excuse the actions of the ambassador, especially if it was a premeditated rant and not just losing it as I had thought. Stupidity all around. The Swedish government, the museum director who approved the work for this venue, the artist, the ambassador, Sharon for supporting his action. They should all be sent to their rooms until they can apologize for being such dipwads. Some diplomat is going have to find some face saving way out for everyone involved. \*My Mom and eldest son are both artists. My son loves it when viewers interpret his work. He never corrects them. “Who knows?” he tells me, “Maybe I did mean that and just didn’t realize it.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/15 "2004-01-19T05:21:27Z")
> [@](#): > > One one hand, there has been way too much Israel=1939 Germany and Sharon=Hitler stuff going on in Europe. I agree. On the other hand, the actions and posturing of Sharon and Mazel are, to me, reminiscent of the Hitler and Goebbels of 1936 or 1933. If **Hälge** ’s observation is correct that the ambassador decided on a course of action before he actually saw the presentation and if Feiler’s claim that Mazel refused to even hear out an explanation, then Mazel has done nothing to “defend” Israel and has taken one more step to give the impression that Israel is simply a bully, while Sharon’s statements of support make it look as though Mazel has the official support of the Israeli nation. Even the Durban conference (for which its participants should be ashamed) owes much of its disastrous conclusions to the actions of Israel and the U.S. When Israel discovered that the Palestinian situation was _one_ topic on the agenda, they quit in a huff with a certain amount of bluster. The U.S. then supported them with more bluster and their own refusal to participate. At that point, the anti-Israeli forces were able to change the agenda to make Israel the focus of the whole meeting, and with neither the U.S. nor Israel there to oppose the new agenda or defend the actions of Israel, the conference spun out of control. Given the odd juxtaposition of images, (which leads to a whole separate wrangle in **Cafe Society** as to the worth of modern art), I cannot figure out whether the piece was supposed to be pro-Israel, anti-Israel, or convey some other message. Feiler claims that he opposes suicide bombers, so Mazel comes off looking like a petulant boor who is more interested in intimidating artists he does not understand than in discussing Israeli-Palestinian issues calmly with an eye toward a just resolution. Given the description provided, this piece was no _Guernica_. I find it difficult to fault the museum or the Swedish government for permitting the piece to be displayed and I find Sharon’s shrill cries of protest to be on a par with the Catholic League protesting secular art that _they_ decide is anti-Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/16 "2004-01-19T05:25:05Z")
First off, there is a video of the incident on this [Dutch news show](http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/tv/nos/journaal/bb.zaterdag.2200.asf). I don’t speak Dutch, but go about 11 minutes in and the segment comes on shortly after, with the actual dialogue in the video in English. I suggest posters to this thread watch the video so they get an idea what they are debating about. > [@Kimstu](#): > > this smiling suicide bomber is shown literally wading through an ocean of “blood”, right? Hardly an endorsement of her actions. Well, the hull of the boat says “Snovit” (“Snow White”) on it, ascribing a purity to her among the sea of blood. I think that’s as close to an endorsement as you can get. No, the ambassador’s actions were a wrong act of petty vandalism, but I’d be pretty upset by that piece of “art” as well. In any case, if you watch the video, the vandalism really isn’t as reckless and angry as the news reports make it seem. He calmly unplugs a few lamps and throws one in the water (incidentally, all this huff about electrical devices in the water seems a bit for naught if the devices have no power). However, no matter how light or calm the damage, or how infuriating the work, may be, I don’t endorse the ambassador’s actions. They are perhaps one step above smelly punks in Seattle throwing bricks through Starbucks windows. It would have been more appropriate for the ambassador to complain to the curator, or walk out if the exhibit was not removed. I’m not shedding any tears though about light temporary damage this repulsive statement by this pathetic “artist”. It’s just unbecoming a diplomat, and wrong to damage the property of others. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/17 "2004-01-19T05:55:38Z")
I’m a little confused about why the enraged ambassador’s opinion seems to be given more creedence than the explanation of the artists themselves. This is, it’s worth noting, not government censorship. It’s an act by a guy who happens to be a government official. The artwork is probably supposed to be that provocative, but you’d hope a man in Mr. Mazel’s position to at least attempt to be intelligent about the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/18 "2004-01-19T06:34:35Z")
No one was hurt, the art quickly restored to its former splendor, no lasting damage done (quite the contrary, the artist has gotten an extraordinary amount of public attention – a thing he seems to crave above all else). The ambassador apparently was overcome with emotion. One should make allowances for human nature. “and the red looked beautiful upon the white.” This is a line from Snowwhite (points back to the title of the art work I guess). I think it’s an art piece of remarkable stupidity, and won’t try to interpret it. Just note that I think this detached beautification of violence started with the fascists. E.g. a son of Mussolini who remarked how the bombs he threw over Ethiopia looked very pretty as they exploded far below in the small villages. I also listened to a radio program wherein an artist remarked how the collapse of the twin towers were a thing of exquisite beauty. How would an artwork glorifying that have fared in New York the days after that attack? Someone floated a ship on the art work with a picture of the Anna Linda murder suspect, it was quickly removed though. Apparently the Swedes like it better when they’re at the giving rather than the receiving end. If the ambassador knew about the piece before hand (and thus was not spontaneously overcome with outrage), this of course changes things. But not the fact that it should never have been exhibited in the first place - in this museum at that time - Rune ---
**Author:** ![mic84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@mic84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mic84)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/19 "2004-01-19T07:38:15Z")
I like **Beagle** ’s assessment of the situation… In case anyone’s interested, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz [an interview](http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=384157&contrassID=2&subContrassID=21&sbSubContrassID=0) with the ex-Israeli artist(Hebrew; free regitration) with a more complete interpretation of the work: (translated) > [@](#): > > The white boat is maybe the truth, and the truth, as you know, floats on rivers of blood, and always did. That’s exactly what’s happenning. In the text that accompanies the work we talk of that the terrorist killed innocents > [@](#): > > Because in this picture, with the white face and red lips, she looks like Snow White. She is used as an archaic symbol of goodness, and on the other hand she is a monster. When you don’t have something to live for, you find something to die for. > [@](#): > > The work is not poster-like. It has political connotations, but you can see it on several levels. I can understand that people take to heart, don’t agree, think it’s horrible. But from here to destroying an artwork, it’s an unacceptable thing ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133/20 "2004-01-19T07:49:44Z")
Sorry to keep coming back, but here’s an unrelated thought regarding the thread title. Whatever this guy was doing, he was not fighting anti-Semitism. If anything, he was inadvertently contributing to stereotypes of Israel and rather exemplifying the PR problem the country has been having. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambassador-attacks-art-fighting-anti-semitism-or-blocking-free-expression/225133.md?page=2)