Streit um Jüdisches Museum Berlin: Ein offener Brief …

… israelischer Künstler*innen gegen schrumpfende Räume in der Kultur.

Schockiert nehmen wir zu Kenntnis, dass unser Premierminister und seine Regierung die deutsche Regierung dazu auffordert ihre Unterstützung für das Jüdische Museum in Berlin wegen der Sonderausstellung über Jerusalem zu beenden. Dieser Ausstellung wird auf unaufrichtige und irreführende Weise vorgeworfen ein hauptsächlich muslimisch-palästinensisches Narrativ zu widerspiegeln.

Wir lehnen die Versuche, die Freiheit des kulturellen Ausdrucks einzuschränken, ab. Diese sind Teil einer umfassenderen Kampagne von populistischen und ultrarechten Regierungen weltweit, deren Ziel es ist, den Spielraum des kritischen Denkens einzuschränken und, wenn möglich, dieses zum Schweigen zu bringen.

In den letzten Jahren haben wir in Israel unzählige Versuche der Regierung erlebt, in Zusammenarbeit mit populistischen und ultrarechten Parteien die Räume des kulturellen Ausdrucks und damit den pluralistischen, kritischen Diskurs einzuschränken. Die Methoden äußern sich in der Darstellung politisch andersdenkender Künstler*innen, Kurator*innen, Intellektueller und anderer Personen als illegitim und als Mitglieder einer „fünften Kolonne“ oder im Zurückhalten von Subventionen für Institutionen und öffentliche Räume, in denen abweichende Stimmen zum Ausdruck gebracht wurden.

Wir sind grundsätzlich gegen jegliche politische Zensur von Einzelpersonen oder kulturellen Institutionen, die Raum für Kritik an der israelischen Politik lassen. Die abschreckende Wirkung dieser Bedrohungen ist die Zerstörung der kulturellen Debatte in einer offenen Gesellschaft.

Wir appellieren folglich an die Regierung, das Parlament, die Medien und die breite Öffentlichkeit in Deutschland, sich dieser unangemessenen Forderung zu widersetzen und sich generell vor den Versuchen der israelischen Regierung und ihrer antiliberalen Verbündeten zu hüten, diese schädliche Kultur der Angst und Zensur in andere demokratische Bereiche zu exportieren.

In English: Open Letter by Israeli Artists against Shrinking Spaces in Culture

We are shocked to hear that our Prime Minister and his government have demanded that the German government stop its support for the Jewish Museum in Berlin because of the latter’s special exhibition about Jerusalem. This exhibition has been insincerely and incorrectly alleged to reflect a mainly Muslim-Palestinian narrative.

We reject these attempts to curtail the freedom of cultural expression, which are part of a larger campaign by populist and ultra-rightwing governments worldwide to limit the scope of critical thought – and, where possible silence it altogether.

In recent years, we in Israel have witnessed myriad attempts by the government, in cooperation with populist and ultra-rightwing parties, to shrink the spaces of cultural expression and limit pluralist, critical discourse. Methods include portraying dissenting artists, curators, intellectuals, and others as illegitimate and as fifth columnists, or withholding subsidies from institutions and public spaces which have allowed dissenting voices to be expressed.

We are opposed in principle to any political censorship of individuals or cultural institutions that allow space to criticism of Israeli policy. The chilling effect of these threats is the destruction of cultural debate in an open society.

We therefore call on the German government, its parliament, its media, and the broad public to resist this specious demand, and, more broadly to beware of the attempts by the Israeli government and its anti-liberal allies to export this damaging culture of fear and censorship to other democratic domains.

Unterschriften/Signatories

Larry Abramson – Artist and Professor of Art, Shenkar College

David Adika – Artist and Head of the Photography Dept., Bezalel Academy of Art & Design

Gaby Aldor – Co-Artistic Director, Arab- Hebrew Theatre, Jaffa

Udi Aloni – Film Director and Writer, Winner of the Audience Award, Berlinale (2016)

Doris Arkin – Artist and Chairwoman of Basis for Art and Culture

Avishay Ayal – Painter and Professor emeritus, Haifa University

Ido Bar El – Painter and Educator, Recipient of Rapaport Prize, Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2015)

Dr. Galia Bar Or – Director, Pyramida Contemporary Art CenterAnat Barzilai – Artist

Guy Ben-Ner – Artist, Dean of Hamidrasha Faculty of Arts

Tali Ben-Nun – Independent Curator

Deganit Berest – Artist, Recipient of The Sandberg Prize , The Israel Museum

Chava Brownfield-Stein – Head of Master Program in Arts Education, HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts

Gad Charny – Designer, Faculty of Design, HIT, Holon Institute of Technology

Eyal Danon – Director, Israeli Center for Digital Art, HolonYasmin Davis – Artist

Ruth Direktor – Curator of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Yaacov Dorchin – Artist, Recipient Israel Prize (2010), Dean of Basis for Art and Culture

Udi Edelman – Curator, Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon

Sergio Edelsztein – Curator and Founder of The Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv

Ronen Eidelman – Co-Founder and Co-Chief Editor: Erev Rav, Art Magazine

Haim Finkelstein – Artist and Professor emeritus of Art History, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva

Ohad Fishof – Artist

Alona Friedberg – Artists and Head of the Art Department, HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts

Tamar Getter – Painter and Writer, Senior Lecturer, Bezalel Academy of Art & Design

Tsibi Geva – Artist, teaching at School of Visual School of Art, New York

Dana Gillerman – Art Critic at Yedioth Ahronot Newspaper, Artist and Curator

Ruthie Ginsburg – Head of History & Theory Department, HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts & Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

David Goss – Technion, Haifa and Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva

Michal Helfman – Artist and Senior Lecturer, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Alma Itzhaky – Artist and lecturer at the Tel Aviv University and Shenkar College

Avnar Katz – Artist and Professor emeritus, Haifa University

Gabriel Klasmer – Artist and Former Dean of HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts (2014-2018)

Miki Kratsman – Artist and Photographer, Emet Prize Winner (2011)

Omer Krieger – Artist and Artistic Director 1:1 Center for Art and Politics, Tel-Aviv

Einat Leader – Associate Professor, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Ori Levine – Artist and Lecturer, Tel Aviv University

Yitzhak Livneh – Painter and Senior Professor, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Avi Lubin – Curator, HaMidrasha Gallery and Co-Editor, Tohu Magazine

Aim Deuelle Luski – Tel Aviv University

Assi Meshullam – Artist and Head of the Fine Art Department, University of Haifa

Avi Mograbi – Filmmaker

Michal Naaman – Artist, Recipient of Israel Prize (2014)

Tamar Nissim – Artist and Member of Indie-Photography Group Gallery

Gideon Ofrat – Art-Historian

Hadas Ophrat – Artist, Recipient Israel Prize (2016)

Ruth Patir – Artist

Nira Pereg – Artist and Senior Lecturer, Shenkar College

Tom Pnini – Artist

Doron Rabina – Chief Curator, Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Rabinovitz Israel – Artist and Curator

Gilad Ratman – Artist (representing Israel at Venice Biennale, 2013)

Hava Raucher – Artist

Roee Rosen – Artist, Writer and Filmmaker

Tomer Sapir – Artist

Joshua Simon – Former Director of MoBY-Museums of Bat Yam, Founding Editor of Maayan Publishing Chen Tamir – Curator, Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv

David Tartakover – Artist, recipient Israel Prize (2002)

Nahum Tevet – Artist, Emet Prize Winner (2013)

Micha Ullman – Artist, Recipient Israel Prize (2009)

Gal Weinstein – Artist (representing Israel at Venice Biennale, 2017)

Noa Yafe – Artist

Shahar Yahalom – Artist and Lecturer, HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts

Penny Hes Yassour – Artist, Recipient of Arnold Bode Prize, Documenta X, Kassel

Oded Yedaya – Photographer and Head of 'Minshar for Art’ School, Gallery and Culture Center

Ruth Ziv Ayal – Artist and Choreographer