NY governor calls vandalism at the homes of Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum ‘an abhorrent act of antisemitism’
NY governor calls vandalism at the homes of Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum ‘an abhorrent act of antisemitism’
The Hate Crimes Task Force of the New York Police Department is investigating several reports of antisemitic vandalism at the homes of Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum – including its director, a New York City law enforcement official told CNN Wednesday.
Funny thing:
The idea that protesting the slaughter of Palestinians equals antisemitism requires starting from the position that slaughtering Palestinians is a fundamental part of the Jewish identity.
There's really no alternative way to interpret that. If slaughtering Palestinians is not a fundamental part of the Jewish identity, then protesting such slaughter has nothing to do with Judaism, and thus cannot be antisemitic. It'd be like trying to claim that protesting cars is anti-Amish.
So all these people quoted here are essentially saying that slaughtering Palestinians is not just fundamental to being Jewish, but so deeply and uniquely fundamental - so much a part of Jewishness - that opposing such slaughter automatically equals opposing Jews.
Doesn't that sound sort of... antisemitic?
I'm not sure we read the same article.
I think the quoted people were saying that throwing paint and writing slogans on the homes of Jews is antisemitism.
Lemme be clear and say what Israel is doing in Gaza is abhorrent.
I'm not seeing how defacing the homes of 5 people in NYC just because they're Jewish stops the genocide of the Palestinians or helps them in any way.
just because they’re Jewish
Actually, a bit of quick research reveals that Brooklyn Museum, and Anne Pasternak specifically, have been the targets of protests since at least 2016, when the museum, under her directorship, put on a show called "This Place" that purported to be an unbiased look at Israel and Palestine, but was backed by pro-occupation funders.
In fact, the group that was organized in response to that show, called "Decolonize This Place," still exists and is still active.
So it's exceedingly safe to assume that she wasn't targeted "just because (she's) Jewish" but because for at least the past eight years, she, and the museum more broadly, have been seen to be sympathetic to colonialism broadly, and zionism specifically - so much so that at least one organization was formed and still exists specifically to protest them.
Here's the most concise source for that - an interview with Pasternak from 2018
throwing paint and writing slogans on the homes of Jews is antisemitism
This is a very, very dangerous idea to perpetuate. Saying any act of protest against Jewish people, whether or not it’s related to their religion or heritage, is antisemitic means we cannot criticize Jewish people for valid reasons unrelated to their religion or heritage. Misguided or not, it does not seem that these protestors were attacking them because they are Jewish but rather because they are Zionist and just happen to be Jewish. A natural extension of this idea is that protesting the rampant fraud from previous Netanyahu terms would make me antisemitic which is patently false.
To quote you, I’m not sure we read the same article if you think the homes were vandalized because the occupants are Jewish.
This whole conversation is super fraught with nuance.
I’m not sure how hosting an art exhibit commemorating the deaths of people murdered by Hamas on October 7th automatically makes the board members Zionists endorsing the persecution of Palestinians. Perhaps there is some context this article doesn’t touch on
Perhaps there is some context this article doesn’t touch on
There is.
This is the most concise and complete summation I could find of the (early) history of the protests against Brooklyn Museum and Anne Pasternak.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/anne-pasternak-brooklyn-museum-interview-part-2-1409434
Note too that there's another controversy - regarding the hiring of a white curator for African art - that likely provides the context for the "white supremacist" part of the graffito.
Why were they targeted?
Idk when vandalizing a unrelated persons property became protesting, but sure?
Next time some African Nation tortures someone, am I allowed to vandalize the House of a black Person in my Neighborhood?
It's not racism, because saying that would mean that torturing people is in black people's DNA, no?
What connection do 5 Jewish board members at the Brooklyn Museum have to what's going on in Gaza?
Anti-semitic or anti-zionist? Cause there's a difference.
Not mutually exclusive. They were motivated by anti-Zionism, sure, but they deliberately targeted the homes the Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum.
No part of this is targeting the people responsible for what is happening in Israel. The Brooklyn Museum has absolutely nothing to do with this conflict.
It is unfathomable that anyone with a modicum of humanity would defend vandalizing the homes of Jews because they are Jewish. This is rooted in the antisemitic trope that all American Jews have loyalty to Israel, and deserve retaliation.
Taking revenge on Jews for Israel's crimes is absolutely antisemitic. You don't have permission to hurt whoever you want because you are upset about what's happening. This is no different than the assholes who attacked the homes and businesses of Arab Americans after 9/11.
So glad there are a few individuals holding these organisations and their members accountable.
You want to be pro-genocide and support a terrorist state like Israel? You shouldn’t expect to live comfortably.
Also sickening how the article talks about the festival deaths and ignore the tens of thousands of dead Palestinians.
It’s not sickening, it’s context as to why these board members may have been targeted.
I’m also not sure how hosting an art gallery automatically equates to support for what Israel is doing. Those people were murdered.
Literally attacking Jews as they mourn their dead, and call their mourning support for genocide...
It's upsetting how this brand of bigotry has become a centerpiece of leftwing politics lately.
Democracy Now! was on the scene and spoke with protesters, who said that almost eight months into Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip, prominent institutions in the U.S. have an obligation to disclose their ties to the occupation and divest. “We are making it clear that we will continue to occupy institutions just like this one and call out individuals like the board of the Brooklyn Museum to make clear that their money and our money is being used for this genocide,” said Abdullah Akl, a member of Within Our Lifetime, a Palestinian-led community organization
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/6/3/brooklyn_museum
Divest from Israel if you don’t want to support genocide. If you do support genocide, some paint on your house is the least you deserve.