Debat, Institutionskritik, Offentligt rum, PerformanceART WORKERS FOR PALESTINEApril 09, 2024Palæstina, Palestine, Gaza, English, Copenhagen, Den Sorte Diamant, København, Refaat AlareerComment

A PROTEST FOR PALESTINE: THE ROYAL DANISH LIBRARY

Debat, Institutionskritik, Offentligt rum, PerformanceART WORKERS FOR PALESTINEApril 09, 2024Palæstina, Palestine, Gaza, English, Copenhagen, Den Sorte Diamant, København, Refaat AlareerComment

On sunday April 7 art Workers, writers and activists met in front of The Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen to protest our governments support of Israel as well as the sensorship and silencing of writers and artists who call for a ceasefire now.

In homage to Refaat Alareer’s poem If I Must Die protestors held up a kite with a tail carrying thousands of bows that symbolize the 13.000+ killed children in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The protestors distributed pamphlets calling for Denmark to stop the export of arms to Israel and called for the govenment to actively support both the UN and The International Court of Justice rulings for Israel to stop the genocide.

Art workers for Palestine. The Royal Danish Library, 2024. Photo: JLScou.

This is an artistic happening against Denmark's support for Israel's genocide of the civilian population in Gaza and the ongoing censorship of art and cultural workers!

Over 2 million Palestinians find themselves in a life-threatening famine because Israel denies access to humanitarian aid. 32,000 civilians have been killed, 75,000 civilians injured and 90% of Gaza's population are homeless. Israel has repeatedly massacred civilians queuing for aid. They have bombed all hospitals, most recently the total burning of Gaza's largest hospital, Al Shifa. They commit systematic liquidation of health workers, doctors, journalists and intellectuals. The war crimes are many and it is urgent that the international community immediately speaks out against Israel.

A new UN report concludes that there is reasonable suspicion that Israel is committing genocide. Israel is accused of genocide in the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague. The UN Security Council has just voted for a ceasefire, but Denmark forgets that, as a member state of the UN, they are obliged to actively comply with UN resolutions.

We demand that Denmark actively stop their support for Israel financially, politically and morally, because Israel violates "human rights" and "international law". Denmark must stop all exports of weapons to USA/Israel, as this is in violation of both the UN Arms Trade Treaty and the EU Joint Declaration on Arms Exports.

All over the world, artists, writers and cultural workers are being fired and canceled for having legitimate humanitarian/political positions on the situation in Gaza. The censorship of writers such as Adania Shibli, Lana Batašić and artists such as Candice Breitz and Samia Halaby is deeply troubling. It is important that the culture of silence is not normalized. The Danish art and culture scene exhibits a deafening silence when it comes to actively speaking out when "human rights" and "international law" are broken. The Danish art and culture scene also shows a lack of support for arts and cultural workers, who are currently being subjected to what Naomi Klein describes as a "McCarthyian censorship".

We demand that the Danish cultural institutions break their silence about political censorship and self-censorship of culture. We demand that they stand up for all the arts and culture workers who have been fired and canceled on the basis of their attitudes.

If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made,
flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love

If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale.

If I Must Die
– by Refaat Alareer (1979-2023)

This happening is based on the Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer's poem If I Must Die, which he wrote before he was killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in December, 2023. The kite carries quotes from the poem and thousands of bows are attached to its tail represent all of the children who have been killed in Gaza since October 7.

– Text from the Pamphlet (english translation).

ART WORKERS FOR PALESTINE

Art workers for Palestine (Kulturarbejdere for Palæstina) is a danish initiative that supports a free Palestine and works against the current political censorship in the arts.