Monday 3 May 2010

‘Wipe Israel off map’ – by Danish artist

Sat, 01 May 2010 07:26:46 GMT


Danish art duo "Surrend”

A Danish modern art duo, Surrend, has gained attention over a series of posters in which Israel is wiped off the map of the Middle East.

In the posters, the territory presently named Israel has been renamed "Ramallah" by the two artists Jan Egesborg and Pia Bertelsen.

The posters sport the line "Final Solution" at the top.

Israel has reacted with fury to the artworks, which are currently on display in selected neighborhoods in Berlin, Germany.

In what appeared to be a quick attempt to please Israel, Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit told The Jerusalem Post that "there cannot be any doubt regarding Israel's right to exist. This form of satire is not what I like."

Shimon Samuels, head of the international department of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Paris, also expressed outrage and demanded that the artists be sued for "genocidal incitement" and "Nazi terminology."

However, Egesborg — who is of Jewish faith himself — has argued that the artworks mainly sought to remove taboos about the much-debated creation of Israel, which he termed as a "historical mistake."

"As a Jew, I always thought it was problematic that Israel was built on stolen land. The way the Israeli state treats the Palestinians today is terrible. There is no other answer but for the Jews of Israel to find a new homeland, perhaps in the USA, Germany or Denmark," Egesborg said.

SBB/CS/MMA


‘Wipe Israel off map’ – by Danish artist

Rehmat's World

May 3, 2010 ·

On April 28, the Copenhagen Post reported that the Danish modern art duo Surrend, known for its political-satire-exhibits – has lined-up Berlin streets with poster titled ‘Final Solution’ – showing map of Middle East less Israel. Instead the Occupied Palestine under the Zionist-regime renamed as Ramallah. The poster was drawn by Jan Egesborg, who is Jewish, and his wife Pia Bertelsen.

Jan Egesborg has defended his artwork not being ‘anti-Semite’ as it doesn’t criticize Jews – but is meant to remove the taboo surrounding discussions on the establishment of the state of Israel, which he called a “historical mistake”. He added: “As a Jew, I always thought it was problematic that Israel was built on stolen land. The way the Israeli state treat Palestinians today is terrible. There is no other answer but for the Jews of Israel to find a new homeland, perhaps in the USA, Germany or Denmark”.

The Zionist entity has reacted with fury to the artworks, which are currently on display in selected neighborhood in Berlin. Shimon Samuels, head of the international department of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Paris had expressed outrage and demanded that the artists be sued for “genocidal incitement” and “Nazi terminology”.

Moshe Kantor, president of European Jewish Congress (EJC) while condemning the art – called upon the European governments “the need for the implementation of broader legislation against such hateful anti-Semitic expressions. This is another example of how the systematic delegitimisation of the State of Israel is absolutely anti-Semitic and no false cries of ‘freedom of speech’ can justify it”.
In the past, Jan Egesborg and Associates had produced anti-Muslim poster showing Ka’ba with headline “Dumb Stone”; Danish royal family being “guillotined” and insulting cartoon of Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russian president Putin – none of which brought condemnation from the Jewish groups.

On February 12, 2010 – Queen of Spain, Sofia, opened the 23rd. ‘Contemporary Arts Fair’, ARCO, at the Juan Carlos I Exhibition Centre. The fair displayed over 218 gallaries representing 32 different countries. 93 galleries represented the host country, Spain. Everything went well – except a sculpture “Stairway to Heaven” by Spanish artist Eugenio Merino (see below), which became part of ‘anti-Semitism’ controversary. The Israeli embassy called it as an insult to Judaism.



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