The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) is calling for a boycott of the first-ever art exhibition of Israeli artists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which opened recently at a Dubai gallery.
The exhibition, “Abyss of Bliss” features the work of three Israeli artists, Ariela Wertheimer, Keren Shpilsher, and 18-year-old photographer Yinon Gal-On.
In a press release, the gallery says the exhibition was organized to celebrate “the occasion of the peace agreement between the UAE and Israel,” signed last year as part of the so-called “Abraham Accords”. The move was condemned by Palestinians and Arabs in the region.
“When the peace agreement between Israel and the UAE was signed, I was very excited about the world of opportunities that opened up for the two nations,” said Gal-On.
This month, a Dubai art gallery will present the first exhibition of Israeli artists in the UAE https://t.co/V3i7AwbGvZ
— The National (@TheNationalNews) March 17, 2021
“I didn’t imagine that in a few months I would present my photographs in a gallery in Dubai.”
However, PACBI, argues that art, in this case, is being used as a tool in the service of “normalizing colonialism and repression.”
“Opening the first exhibition of Israeli artists in the region is yet another attempt to popularise normalization.”
The abyss of apartheid – the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of #Israel (@PACBI) calls to boycott the first-ever exhibition of Israeli artists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which opened recently at a Dubai gallery.' https://t.co/m49upjlVWI #BDS
— Jinjirrie
(@Jinjirrie) April 14, 2021
Palestinians have condemned the accords as a stab in their back and a direct affront to their cause to liberate their lands from Israeli occupation.
The statement added that the Emirati public “still sees the Israeli settler-colonial apartheid regime as its first enemy despite attempts to suppress and silence criticism.”
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
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