Israel's ambassador to Sweden destroys artwork in Stockholm museum

Haaretz ^ | 1/17/2004 | By Haaretz Service and Reuters

[jocon307]

"It has a sense of rich irony, the destruction of it is itself a work of art. Performance art, if you will."

Yes, I agree. It was a fitting synergy the ambassador brought to this installation, he made the art come even more alive, no pun intended.

Museum goers the world over should engage in performance art of this same kind. They should go further in fact, take these so-called pieces of art out and leave them at the curb for the garbage collectors.

[risk]

The real mystery here, unanswered by FReepers to my satisfaction so far, is how a Jewish artist finds himself on the wrong side against his own flesh and blood?

I think this is the strongest evidence against racial distinctions and advantages when your own people mark you for extinction. I'll never understand it. Heck, my fellow Americans seem to be willing to let WMDs stack up against us all without lifting a finger. That's a mystery to me, too.

[risk]

The following is from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/834516/posts

Sweden's Foreign Minister [Anna Lindh]: "Israel is losing its moral values"

Sweden is presently without an ambassador to Israel, since the ambassador - Anders Liden - was recently appointed director-general of the Swedish foreign ministry. As a result, Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden, Zvi Mazel, has been instructed to protest Lindh’s speech directly to Liden.

[BlakeAshby2008]

"Well, if you want to be technical about it, the Israeli Ambassador did muck about with some private property."

Well, if we want to be technical about it, we could say that if that'd happened on U.S. soil the Israeli Ambassador mucked about with her First Amendment right to express any damned thing she pleased, no matter how offensive.

Tell me, Primeval Patriot, how you would amend the First Amendment?

[VOA]

artwork depicting a Palestinian suicide bomber in a Stockholm museum

Pornography in a Swedish museum?
Who'da' thunk it?!

But we shouldn't paint with a broad-brush...
Somewhere, Raoul Wallenberg is smiling.

(For the younuns', Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat who pulled a "Schindler"
and saved a lot of Hungarian Jews...and was taken prisoner by the USSR for his trouble,
to never be seen again. Suppossedly, the Soviets didn't know what to make of a guy
who'd risk his life to save 'some Jews'...and the Soviets either killed him or
held him in their prisons until his death...depending on which version of the story
is being sent from Russia.)

[CIB-173RDABN]

"...ambassador should be prosecuted."

---

What part of diplomatic immunity don't you understand?

He may be asked to leave, but he can not be prosecuted.

[risk]

Our first amendment couldn't be better, so let's leave it alone. Regardless of which amendment or statute would have been violated here, don't you think the Israeli Ambassador should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law? As a foreigner, I doubt that any constitutional protections would apply, but I'd guess that the accused might have a chance at a jury trial.

That way 12 people could help decide if and how he should be punished for the way he expressed his outrage.

[nwrep]

Please send emails of support to the Israeli Ambassador to Sweden at the following address:

israel.embassy@swipnet.se

[primeval patriot]

BlakeAshby2008

Since Jan 14, 2004

OMG, I've aroused a moderate republican presidential candidate.

"I like to talk about UFO's too."

[badmrbunny]

" That does not change the fact that flying off the handle in a museum and destroying a "work of art" is inexcusable."

The Pharisees had the same reaction when Jesus turned over the tables in the Temple.

[WayneM]

Now that's art! The only good thing to come out of this sorry affair.

[Hildy]

Mazel furiously ripped out electrical wires attached to the art work and threw a spotlight in the basin.

False reporting. Nowhere in this article does it say he destroyed the actual painting. Bogus reporting, I wonder why?

[Hildy]

Actually it only soudns like he ripped the lighting off the wall. Am I right?

[txrangerette]

Civil Disobedience, a la ML King.

[Zechariah11]

Bravo! The USA should have diplomats like this.

[hellinahandcart]

Well, if we want to be technical about it, we could say that if that'd happened on U.S. soil the Israeli Ambassador mucked about with her First Amendment right to express any damned thing she pleased, no matter how offensive.

And, because of diplomatic immunity, nothing would be done about it.

I have to say, this is maybe the first time I would really enjoy seeing the immunity exercised.

[gaspar]

I love how the question of morality does not enter your equation. How about nailing the head of a partially birthed child to a cross? Or excised female genetilia to a Kuran, and calling it art. Charlatans who pass for artists can no longer shock. They can only disgust.

Those curators who allow the perpetuation of such junk art are guilty of a monstrous crime against good taste (for one) and civilized conduct (for another).

[BlakeAshby2008]

Ashby doesn't stand a hope in Hell, but I agree with just about everything he says. If it's a close race (and I think it will be) I won't vote for him, and I'll berate anybody that does. On the other hand, our President and Congress are spending us into the poor house in a mad dash for donations and swing votes.

[freedumb2003]

Actually it only soudns like he ripped the lighting off the wall. Am I right?

Good point. It looks like he protested the work by essentially darkening its showing -- not the item itself. This is a critique, if a very physical one

Had he damaged the artwork, this would have been a troubling incident. We all believe in the 1st Amendment (and we extend the principle to others, in this case Sweden) and the debate rages -- when does "speech" become so offensive that it crosses the line? Dung on the Virgin Mary? Glorifying terrorism?

I am not saying I have the answer and I am generally in favor of Free Speech -- "I may hate what you say but I will fight to the death for your right to say it" -- but I suspect that if I were to see "art" glorifying 9/11 (like those candy boxes we saw being sold in the Palistinian streets) I would not only take out the art, but the artist as well.

[BlakeAshby2008]

"We all believe in the 1st Amendment (and we extend the principle to others, in this case Sweden) and the debate rages -- when does "speech" become so offensive that it crosses the line?"

The answer is never. If you feel otherwise, why not go live in a country that condones the abridging of free speech - like Canada, or France, or Iran?

Have you forgotten what being an American means?