University caves in to pressure to display ‘ethnic cleansing’ text
ProPalestinian groups staged protests on Wednesday
THE UNIVERSITY of Manchester has reversed a decision to remove from an exhibition a statement describing Israel as engaging in ethnic cleansing, apartheid and environmental destruction.
The Whitworth Art Gallery — which is run by Manchester University — triggered outrage in the city’s Jewish community after it opened a show by the research group Forensic Architecture titled Cloud Studies that displayed the controversial statement at the exhibition’s entrance under the title ‘Forensic Architecture stands with Palestine’.
The show purports to detail the environmental effects of Israel’s military action in Gaza and the West Bank - as well as looking at “toxic clouds” in places such Indonesia, Argentina, Hong Kong, the UK, US, Mexico, Turkey, Lebanon.
It features films and displays that show how “tear gas, bomb clouds, chemical weapons... suffocate entire neighbourhoods and air pollution targets the marginalised”.
The university initially decided to remove the statement following complaints by UK Lawyers for Israel, Manchester Jewish Representative Council, North West Friends of Israel and the Manchester Zionist Central Council.
The lawyers group had written to Manchester University asking whether the statement complied with its public-sector equality duty to have due regard to fostering good relations between different communities.
However Forensic Architecture reportedly responded to the decision to remove the statement by pulling Cloud Studies “with immediate effect” on Sunday. That day, the gallery tweeted that the exhibition was closed due to “unforeseen circumstances”, and it was not due to open on Monday and Tuesday.
Pro-Palestinian groups staged protests on Wednesday and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said it had sent 13,000 letters to the university through its online platform.
Following the pressure, Manchester University announced it would reverse its decision to have the statement removed. Alistair Hudson, the director of the university’s Whitworth gallery, told the Guardian it was important for Forensic Architecture’s Cloud Studies exhibition “to remain open in full”.
UK Lawyers for Israel has said it was “considering all options”.