Doesn't take clear stance against Hamas: German museum cancels Candice Breitz exhibition

In the German city of Saarbrücken, the Saarlandmuseum has canceled an exhibition, already scheduled for 2024, by South African artist Candice Breitz over some of her alleged controversial statements on the Israel-Hamas war. The board of Stiftung Saarländischer Kulturbesitz (SSK), the foundation that runs the city’s museums, issued a statement saying that the decision was made “after careful analysis in view of the media coverage of the artist following her controversial statements in the context of Hamas’s war of aggression against the State of Israel. By canceling the exhibition, SSK wishes to make it clear that, in this context, it is unwilling to offer a podium to artists who do not take a clear stance against Hamas terrorism.”

The artist was working on the three-year-old exhibition. Breitz, who by the way is Jewish, let the German press know that she was not contacted before the foundation made this decision. It is also not known exactly what the controversial statements are, despite the fact that Breitz has recently taken a stand against Israel several times. Just a few days ago, on Nov. 24, Breitz wrote on her Facebook profile that “if you live in Germany, you may have noticed that many cultural events have been canceled since Oct. 7, all in the name of ’preventing anti-Semitic messages. Unfortunately, in Germany, the definition of ”anti-Semitism“ can include anything from wearing a keffiyeh, to criticizing the government of Israel for war crimes and human rights violations, to using the word ’genocide’ (now, why would Germany be so nervous about issues of ’genocide’?), to expressing empathy of any kind for the thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians who have died since October 7. All of this cynical use of anti-Semitism as a weapon grotesquely distracts from the real anti-Semitism that is alive and well in Germany, the lion’s share of which is perpetrated by far-right white Germans and ethnonationalists (and not, as the German press would have us believe, by progressive Jews and/or Israelis, Muslims, Arabs, blacks, global Southerners...and, of course, Palestinians). Germany is literally willing to let Documenta implode to prove that it is no longer an anti-Semitic country. No one is fooled, Germany.” In the same post, Breitz further added that “Fortunately, one can still mourn and express empathy for those who were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists in Israel on October 7. But that is all. There has never been an Oct. 6 in Germany, and the clock has stopped on Oct. 7.”

But there is more: last Nov. 10, several hundred cultural activists gathered in Berlin to protest the cancellation of an event titled “We Still Need to Talk,” a protest, organized by “left-wing Jews and Israelis” (that is how the organizers themselves introduced themselves) with the goal of calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the release of all hostages. In the days before the demonstration, Breitz and others complained that when someone complains about Israel’s bombing of Gaza, they receive in response a call to take a stand against Hamas terrorism. And also to dispel any doubts, after the exhibition was cancelled, Breitz spoke out by saying that one can feel empathy for civilians barbarically tortured and murdered while having no respect for Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. “This time you chose the wrong Jew,” she wrote on her Instagram profile. “If you want to enjoy the spectacle of the German press slandering and defaming a Jew on the basis of zero evidence, fear, paranoia, distilled guilt and confabulated nonsense, consult Google. I will offer clarity and some facts (yes, real facts) as things unfold.” He closes by promising that “it’s not over yet.”

This is not, however, the first equivocal affair to unfold in the German cultural world around the Israel-Hamas war. The war events have disrupted Documenta in recent days, and the 2024 Biennial of Contemporary Photography was also canceled because of some content deemed anti-Semitic posted on social media by one of the curators. What is happening in Germany?

Doesn't take clear stance against Hamas: German museum cancels Candice Breitz exhibition

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