Mark I can only speak for myself on this but if you read my original post carefully you'll see that it addressed both the possibility of the call being interpreted in an anti-semitic way (which I think is real - if you can't see ,as Rob M pointed out, how the accompanying cartoon walked a perilously close line to very old anti-semitic stereotypes, then it seems to me you are being wilfully blind) but also the necessity of clarity *precisely in order to avoid* the constant attempts by the Israeli state to muddy the waters and imply that anyone who criticises Israel and Israeli policy is an anti-semite. The unfortunate -to put it at its mildest- thing about this call is that because of the appalling lack of care & thought with which it was constructed it opened the door to all the old anti-semitic stereotypes. It seems to me that those who wish to oppose the racism of the Israeli state have an obligation also to be the clearest and the best fighters against anti-semitism. The Bloomberg call fails that test miserably -it creates political confusion, it gives potential comfort to both anti-semites and to Zionism. I disagree with those who have said it's a matter of opinion or there are lots of ways of looking at it. Playing with anti-semitism is not a strategy for *anyone's* liberation. That is a *fact* and it needs to be said loud and clear. Michael
--- On Wed, 2/18/09, mark cooley <[email protected]> wrote: > From: mark cooley <[email protected]> > Subject: [NetBehaviour] boycotts etc > To: [email protected] > Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 2:38 PM > I'll never understand why any criticism of Israel is > automatically taken as racism by some. I have Jewish friends > who don't like the apartheid happening in Palestine any > more than I do. I don't see that the problems that you > point out concerning racist attitudes around the world have > anything to do with the discussion of Israel's policy in > Palestine. As far as corporate sponsored art the call > didn't state that it had anything to do with making > accusations toward Jews controlling the art market. Perhaps > they want to make a connection between media bias toward > Israel's policy in Palestine and to see if that bias > extends beyond the popular culture of news media to fine art > culture. To demonstrate that there is bias in the media and > government and art institutions is not to be racist. I abhor > U.S. foriegn policy. We have military bases in over a > hundred countries and our commanders (and vast majority of > army) are Christian. Seemingly, with this logic - I > must be a Christian hater because I criticize U.S. foreign > policy and recognize media bias toward supporting this > policy. > > > > i feel that the tone of this is coming awfully close to the > old > scapegoat re. a jew or jews control the govt, the media, > the banks, > the world etc. after reading an study yesterday that said > 30% of > europeans blame jews for the current global financial > crisis, careful > please. there was also a very large percentage of chinese > that felt > jews want to control the world. i don't see what a > corporate presence > in art has to do with this at all unless this is the latest > scapegoat > technique. > > WE ARE LOOKING FOR ARTISTS & WRITERS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A > 'FREE > SCHOOL' > MAGAZINE > > > WORK SHOULD RELATE TO THE RECENT ATTACKS IN GAZA, THE > OCCUPATION OF > PALESTINE, MEDIA BIAS, THE CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP OF ART, > BLOOMBERG, ART > AS A SPECULATIVE COMMODITY, ART & PROTEST, AND OTHER > ASSOCIATED OR > RELEVANT SUBJECTS. > > > THE MAGAZINE WILL BE LAUNCHED ON 6 MARCH OUTSIDE ARTFUTURES > AT BLOOMBERG > SPACE. > > > CONTRIBUTIONS SHOULD BE B&W TO FIT A4 SIZE, AND SENT TO > THE FOLLOWING > EMAIL ADDRESS: > > > [email protected] > > > DEADLINE 1 MARCH. > > > PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE INTERESTED > > > Thanks, > Free School. > > > http://digitalaardvarks.blogspot.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
