Articles
December 2011, Pages 42-43
Northern California Chronicle
Gaza Kids' Art Show a Smashing Success Despite Museum's Attempt at Censorship
By Elaine Pasquini
The long-planned opening reception for the exhibit of Palestinian children's artwork organized by the Berkeley-based Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) took place Sept. 24 in the courtyard of Oakland's Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA), rather than inside, as originally intended when the project was launched months ago. "A Child's View From Gaza" featured drawings created by Gazan children who lived through Operation Cast Lead. Israel's deadly assault on Gaza began Dec. 22, 2008—three days before Americans celebrated Christmas—and ended Jan. 17, 2009—three days before the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama. The Israeli bombardment killed 1,400 Palestinians, including at least 300 children, and injured 5,000. In the aftermath, one of MECA's projects, Let the Children Play & Heal, gave children the chance to cope with their suffering and express their feelings by making drawings and paintings.
Caving to pressure from Bay Area pro-Israel groups, the museum's board of directors cancelled the exhibit on Sept. 8 (see November 2011 Washington Report, p. 43). The board then offered to host the exhibit on condition that it select the works to be shown. Unwilling to allow the children's artwork to be censored, MECA rejected the last-minute offer. Instead, volunteers stood in the museum's courtyard holding the children's drawings for visitors to view before walking around the corner to 917 Washington St., where a new venue for the exhibit had been secured. On the sidewalk, The Great Tortilla Conspiracy—which describes itself as "the world's most dangerous tortilla art collective"—served the crowd delicious hot tortillas with the words "The Great Tortilla Conspiracy Loves and Respects ALL Children's Art" silk-screened on them, using chocolate for ink.
"We've had an enormous amount of support from the local community," MECA executive director Barbara Lubin told the several hundred people attending the opening reception. "And because of MOCHA's actions, the whole world knows about this. People from Denmark, Turkey and all over the world have been asking for this exhibit. I will be traveling to Gaza next month and bringing back a second exhibit which shows the children's feelings after being told their work isn't good enough for the museum."
Some drawings featured images of Israeli planes dropping bombs on apartment houses. Others showed soldiers, tanks and ambulances in the streets. One picture depicted children crying and the sun, birds and palm trees also weeping.
"We went into Gaza with paintbrushes and crayons and asked elementary school children to draw their reality," said Nancy Hernandez, a member of a delegation of artists who traveled to Gaza last summer as part of the Maia Mural Project, a campaign focusing on everyone's right to clean water. "When the children drew pictures of water they drew black tanks on top of their houses." Unlike Jewish Israelis, who have unlimited access to fresh water, Hernandez explained, Palestinians' water supply is limited.
"A Child's View From Gaza" runs through Nov. 30 at its new venue in Oakland. For gallery hours visit <www.mecaforpeace.org> or call (510) 548-0542.
OEA Admonishes Museum For Canceling Gaza Exhibit
The Oakland Education Association (OEA), which represents Oakland's 2,600 public school teachers, was one of MECA's strongest supporters in its struggle to stage the Gaza children's art exhibit. At a Sept. 23 rally outside MOCHA, OEA president Betty Olson-Jones read a letter that the executive board sent to Hilmon Sorey, chair of MOCHA's board of directors.
In the Sept. 21 letter, the OEA expressed "our deep disappointment over your decision to cancel 'A Child's View From Gaza' and deny the children of Gaza the right to share their experiences through artwork." The letter further stated: "MOCHA has always been a place where all subjects are open to artistic expression…As past artwork has included many examples of the violence in children's lives, the only conclusion we can draw to explain your decision to engage in such obvious censorship is the pressure being exerted by powerful organizations and individuals seeking to silence the voices of the Palestinian people. We are well aware of such pressure, having received our share of it when we condemned the murderous Israeli assault on Gaza several years ago…That you have chosen not to allow a safe place for the often-ignored children of Gaza to share their art is a decision that will unfortunately scar your reputation and remain a deep disappointment to the many teachers who have supported you throughout your existence."
Activists March Across Bridge in Memory of 9/11
Several hundred activists marched across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge on Sept. 11 to protest the war in Afghanistan, the continued U.S. presence in Iraq, and NATO's involvement in Libya.
After gathering at opposite ends of the famed suspension bridge, peace advocates simultaneously marched to meet in the middle of the span to honor those who died on 9/11 and the soldiers and civilians who have since died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While there were no recorded U.S. deaths in Iraq in August, 70 soldiers died that month in Afghanistan, the highest for a single month since the war began in 2001. In September, 31 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan.
Marchers carried signs demanding "Bring the Troops Home" and "No More Wars." Activists from The World Can't Wait made an impressive statement by dressing as prisoners in orange jumpsuits and carrying signs that read "9/11 No License for War or Torture."
"We've been told to think about American lives lost on 9/11, but not to care about the loss of any other life in the 10 years that the government used 9/11 as an excuse to go to war against the rest of the world," Stephanie Tang of The World Can't Wait told the crowd. "Today we remember every person killed by our government. American lives are not more important than other people on this planet."
Norman Solomon, a candidate for the sixth district congressional seat to be vacated next year by Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey, was greeted enthusiastically when he took the microphone. "A license for war is unacceptable," the author and media critic stated. "We're determined to organize so that the warfare gives way to a country and a world where all children have a future, where the madness of militarism—a term used by Martin Luther King, Jr.—is set aside in favor of nurturing life instead of destroying it."
Arab Cultural Festival
San Francisco's Arab Cultural and Community Center held its 17th annual Arab Cultural Festival in Union Square on Oct. 1. The largest celebration of Arab culture in Northern California, the festival featured entertainers, including hip hop artist Omar Offendum, the traditional Palestinian debka troupe Al-Juthoor, classical oud virtuoso and singer Naser Musa, Palestinian singer Salma Habib, the musical group Al-Sarah and the Nubatones and Faisal Zedan. Jewelry, textiles and crafts from the Arab world were for sale in the booth bazaar. Visitors also enjoyed delicious Middle Eastern cuisine and dancing in the open-air plaza.
Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
