The Jerusalem Post

Jerusalem art gallery owner refuses to vacate

Lawyer claims eviction notice due to hosting lecture with left-wing NGO Breaking the Silence

- • By DANIEL K. EISENBUD

The owner of Jerusalem’s Barbur Art Gallery, who was ordered by the municipali­ty to vacate the premises within 90 days after hosting a February lecture from the left-wing NGO Breaking the Silence, is refusing to submit to the edict.

The eviction was ordered one day after Breaking the Silence’s executive director, Yuli Novak, spoke at the Nahlaot gallery. The NGO has been condemned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for its use of IDF veterans who accuse fellow soldiers of committing war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza.

After right-wing political leaders demanded Novak’s speech be canceled, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat issued a statement saying that the municipali­ty’s legal team had determined that the owner of the gallery was not authorized to use it as a lecture hall.

Barkat added that the building is municipal property, and must be returned to the city within 90 days.

While the mayor contended that the eviction was due to “zoning violations,” Breaking the Silence spokesman Dean Issacharof­f said there is no question the right-wing mayor was abusing his authority to intimidate opposing views.

“He obviously wants to stifle freedom of speech in order to stop us from talking about our experience­s as soldiers in the occupied territorie­s,” Issacharof­f said at the time.

According to the mayor, the eviction is unrelated to the lecture.

“It has no connection to freedom of expression,” he contended. “The municipali­ty needs the structure, and is actively consulting with representa­tives of the neighborho­od about future use.”

The gallery’s owner and curator, Masha Zuslam, expressed incredulit­y over the eviction, noting that she had not received any advance warnings or notices from City Hall.

“We didn’t get anything from the municipali­ty,” Zuslam said, adding that she has run the gallery for nearly 12 years without any previous citations. “Everything we know is from the press. The mayor is trying to punish us because we have different political views.”

Despite a protest held by the right-wing group Lehava, Zuslam said the lecture proceeded as planned, adding that far more demonstrat­ors came to support the gallery’s right to sponsor the talk and to condemn the mayor for intervenin­g.

“We had a very big demonstrat­ion of support,” she noted at the time.

On Tuesday, Yossi Havilio, an attorney representi­ng the gallery, sent an open letter to the municipali­ty stating that the eviction, scheduled to be enforced in two weeks, is ostensibly based on political ideology, and therefore is unlawful.

“Any attempt to hide behind technical legal interpreta­tions is not serious,” the letter stated. “This is a fundamenta­l and crucial issue of freedom of speech. A local authority cannot prevent the voicing of diverse opinions in a municipal property. Therefore, the municipali­ty’s decision is illegal, and we do not intend to vacate the gallery.”

In a strongly worded statement, the municipali­ty maintained that the eviction is exclusivel­y based on legal merit.

“The public is fed up with the lies of the directors of the Barbur Art Gallery and their cheap attempts to present the issue as related to freedom of speech,” the statement said. “The facts are that the gallery is situated in a property that is not authorized to serve as such, and does not have a proper permit.

“The municipali­ty is therefore obligated to demand that they evacuate in accordance with the bylaws and directives of the municipal comptrolle­r. The gallery will be evacuated in accordance with all the legal procedures, and the property will serve the neighborho­od as it was originally intended.”

 ?? (Rhona Burns) ?? SUPPORTERS OF free speech demonstrat­e on February 8 in front of Jerusalem’s Barbur Art Gallery.
(Rhona Burns) SUPPORTERS OF free speech demonstrat­e on February 8 in front of Jerusalem’s Barbur Art Gallery.

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