# taz.de -- Streit um Jüdisches Museum Berlin: Ein offener Brief …
> … israelischer Künstler*innen gegen schrumpfende Räume in der Kultur.
Schockiert nehmen wir zu Kenntnis, dass unser Premierminister und seine
Regierung die deutsche Regierung dazu auffordert ihre Unterstützung für das
Jüdische Museum in Berlin wegen der Sonderausstellung über Jerusalem zu
beenden. Dieser Ausstellung wird auf unaufrichtige und irreführende Weise
vorgeworfen ein hauptsächlich muslimisch-palästinensisches Narrativ zu
widerspiegeln.
Wir lehnen die Versuche, die Freiheit des kulturellen Ausdrucks
einzuschränken, ab. Diese sind Teil einer umfassenderen Kampagne von
populistischen und ultrarechten Regierungen weltweit, deren Ziel es ist,
den Spielraum des kritischen Denkens einzuschränken und, wenn möglich,
dieses zum Schweigen zu bringen.
In den letzten Jahren haben wir in Israel unzählige Versuche der Regierung
erlebt, in Zusammenarbeit mit populistischen und ultrarechten Parteien die
Räume des kulturellen Ausdrucks und damit den pluralistischen, kritischen
Diskurs einzuschränken. Die Methoden äußern sich in der Darstellung
politisch andersdenkender Künstler*innen, Kurator*innen, Intellektueller
und anderer Personen als illegitim und als Mitglieder einer „fünften
Kolonne“ oder im Zurückhalten von Subventionen für Institutionen und
öffentliche Räume, in denen abweichende Stimmen zum Ausdruck gebracht
wurden.
Wir sind grundsätzlich gegen jegliche politische Zensur von Einzelpersonen
oder kulturellen Institutionen, die Raum für Kritik an der israelischen
Politik lassen. Die abschreckende Wirkung dieser Bedrohungen ist die
Zerstörung der kulturellen Debatte in einer offenen Gesellschaft.
Wir appellieren folglich an die Regierung, das Parlament, die Medien und
die breite Öffentlichkeit in Deutschland, sich dieser unangemessenen
Forderung zu widersetzen und sich generell vor den Versuchen der
israelischen Regierung und ihrer antiliberalen Verbündeten zu hüten, diese
schädliche Kultur der Angst und Zensur in andere demokratische Bereiche zu
exportieren.
## In English: Open Letter by Israeli Artists against Shrinking Spaces in
Culture
We are shocked to hear that our Prime Minister and his government have
demanded that the German government stop its support for the Jewish Museum
in Berlin because of the latter’s special exhibition about Jerusalem. This
exhibition has been insincerely and incorrectly alleged to reflect a mainly
Muslim-Palestinian narrative.
We reject these attempts to curtail the freedom of cultural expression,
which are part of a larger campaign by populist and ultra-rightwing
governments worldwide to limit the scope of critical thought – and, where
possible silence it altogether.
In recent years, we in Israel have witnessed myriad attempts by the
government, in cooperation with populist and ultra-rightwing parties, to
shrink the spaces of cultural expression and limit pluralist, critical
discourse. Methods include portraying dissenting artists, curators,
intellectuals, and others as illegitimate and as fifth columnists, or
withholding subsidies from institutions and public spaces which have
allowed dissenting voices to be expressed.
We are opposed in principle to any political censorship of individuals or
cultural institutions that allow space to criticism of Israeli policy. The
chilling effect of these threats is the destruction of cultural debate in
an open society.
We therefore call on the German government, its parliament, its media, and
the broad public to resist this specious demand, and, more broadly to
beware of the attempts by the Israeli government and its anti-liberal
allies to export this damaging culture of fear and censorship to other
democratic domains.
## Unterschriften/Signatories
Larry Abramson – Artist and Professor of Art, Shenkar College
David Adika – Artist and Head of the Photography Dept., Bezalel Academy of
Art & Design
Gaby Aldor – Co-Artistic Director, Arab- Hebrew Theatre, Jaffa
Udi Aloni – Film Director and Writer, Winner of the Audience Award,
Berlinale (2016)
Doris Arkin – Artist and Chairwoman of Basis for Art and Culture
Avishay Ayal – Painter and Professor emeritus, Haifa University
Ido Bar El – Painter and Educator, Recipient of Rapaport Prize, Tel Aviv
Museum of Art (2015)
Dr. Galia Bar Or – Director, Pyramida Contemporary Art CenterAnat Barzilai
– Artist
Guy Ben-Ner – Artist, Dean of Hamidrasha Faculty of Arts
Tali Ben-Nun – Independent Curator
Deganit Berest – Artist, Recipient of The Sandberg Prize , The Israel
Museum
Chava Brownfield-Stein – Head of Master Program in Arts Education,
HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts
Gad Charny – Designer, Faculty of Design, HIT, Holon Institute of
Technology
Eyal Danon – Director, Israeli Center for Digital Art, HolonYasmin Davis –
Artist
Ruth Direktor – Curator of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Yaacov Dorchin – Artist, Recipient Israel Prize (2010), Dean of Basis for
Art and Culture
Udi Edelman – Curator, Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon
Sergio Edelsztein – Curator and Founder of The Center for Contemporary Art,
Tel Aviv
Ronen Eidelman – Co-Founder and Co-Chief Editor: Erev Rav, Art Magazine
Haim Finkelstein – Artist and Professor emeritus of Art History, Ben Gurion
University, Beer Sheva
Ohad Fishof – Artist
Alona Friedberg – Artists and Head of the Art Department, HaMidrasha
Faculty of Arts
Tamar Getter – Painter and Writer, Senior Lecturer, Bezalel Academy of Art
& Design
Tsibi Geva – Artist, teaching at School of Visual School of Art, New York
Dana Gillerman – Art Critic at Yedioth Ahronot Newspaper, Artist and
Curator
Ruthie Ginsburg – Head of History & Theory Department, HaMidrasha Faculty
of Arts & Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
David Goss – Technion, Haifa and Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva
Michal Helfman – Artist and Senior Lecturer, Bezalel Academy of Art and
Design
Alma Itzhaky – Artist and lecturer at the Tel Aviv University and Shenkar
College
Avnar Katz – Artist and Professor emeritus, Haifa University
Gabriel Klasmer – Artist and Former Dean of HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts
(2014-2018)
Miki Kratsman – Artist and Photographer, Emet Prize Winner (2011)
Omer Krieger – Artist and Artistic Director 1:1 Center for Art and
Politics, Tel-Aviv
Einat Leader – Associate Professor, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Ori Levine – Artist and Lecturer, Tel Aviv University
Yitzhak Livneh – Painter and Senior Professor, Bezalel Academy of Art and
Design
Avi Lubin – Curator, HaMidrasha Gallery and Co-Editor, Tohu Magazine
Aim Deuelle Luski – Tel Aviv University
Assi Meshullam – Artist and Head of the Fine Art Department, University of
Haifa
Avi Mograbi – Filmmaker
Michal Naaman – Artist, Recipient of Israel Prize (2014)
Tamar Nissim – Artist and Member of Indie-Photography Group Gallery
Gideon Ofrat – Art-Historian
Hadas Ophrat – Artist, Recipient Israel Prize (2016)
Ruth Patir – Artist
Nira Pereg – Artist and Senior Lecturer, Shenkar College
Tom Pnini – Artist
Doron Rabina – Chief Curator, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Rabinovitz Israel – Artist and Curator
Gilad Ratman – Artist (representing Israel at Venice Biennale, 2013)
Hava Raucher – Artist
Roee Rosen – Artist, Writer and Filmmaker
Tomer Sapir – Artist
Joshua Simon – Former Director of MoBY-Museums of Bat Yam, Founding Editor
of Maayan Publishing Chen Tamir – Curator, Center for Contemporary Art, Tel
Aviv
David Tartakover – Artist, recipient Israel Prize (2002)
Nahum Tevet – Artist, Emet Prize Winner (2013)
Micha Ullman – Artist, Recipient Israel Prize (2009)
Gal Weinstein – Artist (representing Israel at Venice Biennale, 2017)
Noa Yafe – Artist
Shahar Yahalom – Artist and Lecturer, HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts
Penny Hes Yassour – Artist, Recipient of Arnold Bode Prize, Documenta X,
Kassel
Oded Yedaya – Photographer and Head of 'Minshar for Art’ School, Gallery
and Culture Center
Ruth Ziv Ayal – Artist and Choreographer
23 Dec 2018
## ARTIKEL ZUM THEMA