Sun, 22 November 2009
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The distribution in the Netherlands of a free postcard depicting Anne Frank wearing a Palestinian scarf will not be stopped, according to editor-in-chief Pascale Bosboom of Boomerang publishers. Sebastiaan Gottlieb reports.Bosboom regards the card as a small work of art which encourages people to reflect on a peaceful solution for Israel and the Palestinians. However the Dutch Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) considers the card to be ‘a tasteless rewriting of history’ and is calling for halt to its further distribution.
The image of Anne Frank with the keffiyeh (the kind of scarf once worn by Yasser Arafat) already existed before the card was made. The artist, who calls himself ‘T’, ‘distributed’ the image in the form of graffiti on a number of walls in Amsterdam. Actress Birgit Schuurman decided to use the image for one of the free cards distributed throughout the Netherlands by Boomerang publishers. Acting as guest editor-in-chief for a month Ms Schuurman was allowed to choose which subjects were to be seen on the cards. Much to her surprise many people were offended by the image. She says:
“It was never my in intention to hurt people’s feelings with the card.”
The image of Anne Frank with the Palestinian scarf has also stirred the emotions of Israel’s ambassador in the Netherlands, Harry Kney Tal.
“Anne Frank is an icon of Dutch history. She was killed because she was Jewish. The artist has used this icon and transferred it to the political struggle between Israeli and Palestinians. It’s an outrage, I have no other words to describe it.”
The ambassador referred to the card as gross manipulation and propaganda.
No link
According to Tuvit Shlomi of the CIDI, one cannot equate recent Jewish history and the current Palestinian situation.
“Palestinians are not being persecuted, there are no extermination camps and there is no genocide. The comparison of Anne Frank’s fate in the Second World War and the present situation of the Palestinians doesn’t hold water.”
CIDI’s request to Boomerang publishers to stop distributing the card is not a violation of the freedom of expression, according to Ms Shlomi. She doesn’t want to impose a ban on the card, but would like to clarify the CIDI’s criticism.
This image is disgusting and sick and if I met the artist I'd chuck him in the canal after a thorough beating.Then perhaps he might learn to respect.
As a Jew, as someone who lost family in the holocaust, as someone who grew up in Israel, and as someone with many Arab/Palestinian friends, I find this postcard quite decent and poetic.
It is the reaction by organisations like CIDI that I find distasteful.
CIDI has, for many years, struck me as an organisation that opportunistically interprets things as "anti-Semitic" in order to whip up un-needed hysteria. I have no idea why, either. There is certainly enough real anti-Semitism out there without inventing it where it doesn't exist. I rememeber a few years ago when they showed posters criticising Ariel Sharon as a war criminal, claiming they were "anti-Semitic". Well if that's the case, then most of my friends and family, inside and outside of Israel, including my rabbis, are "anti-Semites" for condemning Sharon's part in the Sabra and Shatilla massacres.
I think CIDI's agenda is to disingenuously use the feared label of "anti-Semitism" in order to quash debate and silence critics of the Israeli government.
I think Anne Frank would have appreciated this art. I think CIDI is doing far more damage to the Jewish people with its hateful reaction.
DITTO Kelev!
Self hating Jews...a dime a dozen these days....with Chomsky and Finkelstein as perfect role models.
jsobieski has the formula down perfectly; any non-Jewish enemy of orthodoxy is an "anti-Semite". Any Jewish critic of Israel or Jewish fundamentalism is a "self-hating Jew".
Easy, isn't it? Perfect for those incapable of thinking in anything but black
anyone who 'criticises' Israel..a euphemism for 'hate' if ever I heard one...or implies that it has no right to defend itself or even exist, is an anti-semite,and whether they are Jewish or not is irrelevant. That's a raw fact...swallow it and purge.
this postcard has become very relevant to today's situation in Gaza
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