From the river to the sea; international solidarity with Palestine was the title chosen by the Reina Sofía Museum for its special program in support of Palestine, “as a cry for the end of the war and genocide in the Mashreq region,” as indicated in the description of its website. A week after its launch on May 8, and after having received complaints from Israel for having used as a name a phrase that they consider anti-Semitic; The center has decided to modify it. As reported by the art gallery this Thursday, from now on it will be called Critical thinking meetings. International solidarity with Palestine.
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Organized in collaboration with ‘TEJA. Network of cultural spaces in support of emergency situations’, the cycle will extend until next September 30. “Some sectors of civil society have pointed out that the title given to one of this season’s activities carried a connotation that was offensive to certain communities,” they explained the reason for their decision, where they specify that the new name responds to their objective, as a public institution, of “seeking meeting spaces through culture and intellectual debate.”
The Israeli embassy denounced last week that the art gallery cycle “calls for annihilation.” The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FCJE) criticized the title in a statement because they stated that it “validates the cause of organizations considered terrorist by the European Union such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the National Liberation Front for Palestine (PFLP).” .
ICOM (International Council of Museums) Israel also issued a letter last Thursday the 9th to the art gallery, in reference to the use of the statement ‘From the river to the sea’, in which they claimed to be “deeply concerned by the choice of that phrase very controversial, especially considering the current political climate.” “We are dismayed by their program,” they continued in the letter, dated May 9, “they must exercise responsibility, striving to defend cultural values instead of fueling tensions and provoking further animosity.” “We urge you to change the title and review your program,” they concluded.
Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, also spoke on the matter on the same day: “The phrase ‘From the river to the sea’ is not simply provocative, as the administrators of the Reina Sofía Museum would have us believe. It is a political slogan, used by the terrorist group Hamas and others, refers specifically to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean and represents a call for the annihilation of the Jewish State. “Toxic calls for the destruction of the Jewish State – even under the protection of a cultural initiative – do not represent progress towards achieving peace. Fostering understanding, rather than inciting violence, is essential at this difficult time,” he expressed.
In its statement issued this Thursday, the Reina Sofía Museum has assured that the initiatives that make up its special program have been conceived to, “through art, create collective spaces for critical thinking about the current complex geopolitical scenario, as well as support artists and Palestinian commissioners in order to connect their struggles and experiences with international solidarity networks.”
The project is made up of several formats that “offer different perspectives and take place at different times such as conferences, conversations, meetings with Palestinian artists, sound capsules, a publication by the museum confederation L’Internationale or the sixth edition of the Neighborhood Picnic, crossed by the demand for the end of the war in Gaza, and of all wars.” Among its next activities is the meeting Situated voices 31. Voices for Palestine against the militarization of the world, which will feature this Thursday as speakers Sarah Babiker, Mai Al Bayoumi, Nadwa Abou Ghazalah González, Yayo Herrero López, Flavia Introzzi and Olga Rodríguez.