HOW JERUSALEM’S ARTS SCENE IS UNDER THREAT FROM THE RIGHT-WING ZEALOTS
The plight of one community gallery is symptomatic of a rising intolerance of free expression in Israel,
Abid to evict a community-led art gallery after it hosted an anti-occupation NGO is a “political intervention” and an indication of a wider campaign targeting tolerant spaces amid growing hostility within Israeli society, critics say.
Nestled among the historic Nachlaot area of central Jerusalem is Barbur – a small, non-profit art gallery sitting on street level, surrounded by a beautiful garden. Opened in 2005, it is a venue that welcomes all ages, backgrounds and beliefs, offering a tolerant space for people to create and appreciate art, while acting as a local meeting point and a place for residents to talk openly about the issues affecting the city they live in.
“Jew, Arabs, young, old – everyone is welcome. We have an orthodox branch that uses the space as well as secular groups,” gallery manager Michal Rappaport tells The National.
Yet, this vital community hub is being threatened with closure by the authorities and could be evicted next month. Housed in a municipality-owned building, the gallery has found itself in the midst of a “very strong political intervention” despite the fact it is not politically motivated, says the Israeli, 35, who’s been involved with the gallery since 2015.
Trouble began for the Barbur in 2016 when the municipality began to take issue with some of the events it was hosting, deeming them to be politically motivated.
“Barbur has always hosted a lot of social activities and lectures and this hasn’t changed since it opened,” says Ms Rappaport, who explains the events have always been held with the aim of increasing awareness and understanding. “But in the last few years, something within society has changed – if you’re a public space, hosting certain events could mean risking losing that space.”
In February 2017, the gallery hosted controversial NGO Breaking the Silence – an organisation founded by former Israeli soldiers that campaigns against human rights
violations in the occupied territories.
“The Minister of Culture [Miri Regev] asked the mayor to cancel the event and to shut the gallery. We went ahead with the event but we had a small demonstration outside the front of the building attended by right-wing group Lehava and a group of people supporting us,” Ms Rappaport says.
This bid to shut down the gallery by former mayor Nir Barkat and Ms Regev made it to the courts and, in August, the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled in favour of the municipality, ordering Barbur Gallery to be closed by February. With the help of Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the gallery appealed and in May a settlement was reached allowing the gallery to stay open for a further three months while city hall reconsiders the gallery’s future in its current location.
During the latest hearing, lawyer Tal Yaker, representing the municipality, said city hall believed the events to be of “a political nature and should not be taking place at that location”.
Ms Rappaport says the gallery intends to keep fighting if the decision does not come back in its favour.
“We have to say this is our public space and it is an integral part of the community. Controversial issues should be talked about between ordinary people – it’s so much more effective – and Barbur is a place where people can do that,” she says.
“Other places have had to tread more carefully because their livelihoods are at stake.”
It is precisely for this reason that Imbala Cafe – just down the road from Barbur, close to the 1967 “Green Line” that separates West Jerualem and the occupied east of the city – has created a self-sustaining co-operative run on a volunteer basis by its members. Opened last year, the liberal space, operates as a combined cafe, library and event venue.
One of its founding members Sahar Vardi, 28, says there has been a significant rise in right-wing hostility over the last five years, and tolerant spaces have suffered as a result.
“There are other collectives in the city but nothing like Imbala. They stay away from the political aspect; they are businesses and have a limit on what they can say. We don’t have that limitation,” Ms Vardi tells The National.
She admits the venue is never completely safe from intervention but, by refusing to accept sponsorship or donors, it has greater freedom than it would otherwise. “A lot of people talk about the shrinking space of civil society but we felt the physical space was deteriorating,” Ms Vardi says.
Daniel Seidemann is an Israeli lawyer specialising in Israeli-Palestinian relations in Jerusalem and the founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem – an Israeli NGO that monitors developments that have an effect on the Palestine-Israeli conflict in Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem is a really tough city to live in. It’s becoming increasingly impoverished, increasingly religious – on both sides – and increasingly extreme,” Mr Seidemann tells
The National. “In addition, the occupation mentality is taking over Israel. The word ‘leftist’ has been turned into a curse and any organisations or individuals challenging the occupation are targeted, including groups like BTS and Peace Now.”
Founder of BTS, Yehuda Shaul, 36, believes spaces such as Barbur and Imbala are crucial. He explains how his organisation has been
Ms Rappaport says the gallery intends to keep fighting if the decision does not come back in its favour