Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan
Canada is a calm country but even here some people get agitated when it comes to the Middle East. An art exhibit by a Canadian-Palestinian at the Ottawa City Hall drew condemnation from the Israeli ambassador and some Jewish groups but support from other Jews and other Canadians.
A letter in the Ottawa Citizen highlights the diverse viewpoints. David Lorge Parnas wrote that the controversy drove him to see the exhibit by Rehab Nazzal: “I found an amazingly effective, but subtle, piece of work.
Using a set of small fuzzy pictures, images that flash briefly on a screen, and a subtitled soundtrack, Nazzal managed to convey what it must be like to be an Arab in historical Palestine. Contrary to the complaints, no terrorism was ‘glorified.’ The projected images vanished so quickly and the displayed prints were so small, that I just felt fear - the fear of arbitrary violence and helplessness.
“After viewing the exhibit I wrote ‘Toda’ and ‘Shalom’ (‘Thank you’ and ‘Peace’) in the guest book. As I was about to leave, a woman entered the gallery talking loudly to her husband. She said ‘Oh good, they have a guest book, I want to write ‘Shame on Ottawa,’ and proceeded to sign the book. What is interesting is that it appeared she did not view the exhibition; she was determined to denounce it before entering the room.”
The exhibit, called “Invisible,” includes images of Palestinians in prisons and names and pictures of Palestinian activists killed around the world. Israeli ambassador Rafael Barak condemned the display, saying it glorified terrorists, and asked Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson to cancel it. The Jewish Federation of Ottawa did the same. Mayor Watson refused, saying that the city has never shutdown an exhibit and that doing so would violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The exhibit had been selected by an independent jury of professional artists.
In response 125 Canadian artists commended the mayor and stated in part: “Artists, curators, and galleries must remain free to make and show art that deals with issues of contemporary social and political significance, including those of social justice. Canada must not allow a foreign state and its diplomatic body to assert this level of political influence and to censor artwork. Freedom of expression must be defended.”
Two hundred and fifty Canadians also thanked the mayor and wrote: “For many years we have been witnessing the attempts at censorship of cultural, political and social initiatives that are critical of the state of Israel.
These include shutting down social and political events, student expulsions, faculty firings, threats and harassment of individuals and organizations. These attempts have alarmingly increased and taken more insidious forms as the conditions on the ground for Palestinians have worsened and as more Canadians as well as others around the world who value justice and freedom have raised their voices to bring an end to the illegal occupation of the West Bank, the siege on Gaza, and to stop the apartheid practices by Israel.”
Then came a full page ad in the media asking: “Why is the city of Ottawa hosting a display memorializing those who murdered 35 school children and 11 Olympic athletes.” Judaism, Christianity, Islam and all religions prohibit violence against innocent people. But the problem in the West is that mostly violence by some Palestinians is condemned, but those responsible for the killings, ethnic cleansing and oppression of Palestinians are glorified.
This exhibit did not justify the atrocities committed by Palestinians. It spotlighted activists who had been assassinated. Basically it shows the horrors of occupation. The exhibit shows stills from a video of a “training exercise” by Israeli troops on Oct. 27, 2007 at Ketziot prison in the Negev Desert which houses 6,000 Palestinians. Human Rights Watch visited it in August 1990 and documented its shocking conditions, according to Canadian Peter Larson. Wikipedia says no human rights organization has been allowed to visit it since. In the 2007 “training exercise” sleeping prisoners were suddenly attacked at 2 a.m. and the resulting riot was brutally suppressed. One prisoner was killed and more than 100 injured.
Rehab Nazzal was born in Palestine and now lives in Toronto. Her work has been shown in Canada and abroad. She has received awards from the University of Western Ontario, Ryerson University and the University of Ottawa and grants from the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Ottawa and SAW Video, a media arts center. Apparently some people do not like her artwork merely because it attempts to show the true picture of life in her former country.
— Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge.
