Artists’ Open-letter calls-out MOMA’s Role against Palestine

Last month a large group of artists, critics, scholars, and organizers signed an open-letter in solidarity with the Palestinian Struggle. In its first paragraph it states:

“We feel it is urgent to highlight the connections between the ongoing violence of Israel against the Palestinian people and a leading institution of the art system, namely the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).” (The letter can be read in its entirety at Social Text Online)

Why now? Here are two reasons: many signees already support the BDS initiative and all found it necessary to echo their support of recent grassroots protests in front of MoMA. First, many of the signees have been committed to BDS initiatives that benefit from open-letters like this one. Since 2005 the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement “works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.” Secondly, the letter affirms each signee’s solidarity with the peaceful protests earlier in May that called for MoMA and the art establishment at large to align with Palestine’s liberation– for “All eyes to be on Palestine”– one of the many phrases circulating at the protests. 

The open letter articulately expresses what a few of the speakers at the peaceful protests brought to the attention of many: key MoMA trustees, Larry Fink and Leon Black both invest in art and systematic military violence directed at Palestine. Fink’s company BlackRock invests in Lockheed Martin, which has assisted in weaponizing the Israeli army since 1971. Leon Black’s private equity company, Apollo Global Management, invests in General Electric, which also supplies the Israel army with an array of military equipment. The letter goes into much more detail on other points of Israel's support from the trustees, but we want to highlight the signees doing the important work of speaking out against institutions like the MoMA who refuse to challenge their own trustees.

Continue to read how three signees (Angela Davis, Yazan Khalili, & Jumana Manna) each work towards a free Palestine. Their activism and art uniquely bring others to consider the current situation. Honest coverage of the Palestine and Israel conflict will not come from any major media outlet. The people who signed the letter help keep us honest when considering how to not only learn about the conflict but to also consider how we can become active supporters of the #freePalestine movement.