Royal Academy and Anti-Semitism
Mark Birbeck writes that wherever you stand on the Israel-Gaza war, using one of the worst anti-Semitic tropes in history turns art into propaganda that is both dangerous and insulting to Jews.
Royal Academy member Michael Sandle is currently exhibiting a piece in the RA's 2024 Summer Exhibition entitled "THE MASS SLAUGHTER OF DEFENCELESS WOMEN & CHILDREN IS NOT HOW YOU DERADICALISE GAZA". The drawing depicts a faceless pilot in an aircraft bearing a Star of David–indicating the plane and the pilot are Israeli.
In the background of the image are hundreds of shrouds. Based on the title of the piece, these shrouds obviously represent women and children.
Sandle's work is known for its criticisms of war, and in particular what he sees as its glorification. In 1986 he created Belgrano Medal - a Medal of Dishonour as a way to challenge the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands War. One of his most famous pieces is an enormous bell in Malta's Grand Harbour, which commemorates the bravery and resilience of the island during the Siege of Malta, in World War II.
But with his latest piece in the Summer Exhibition, we feel that Sandle has strayed from art into propaganda, using imagery that can only fuel anti-Semitism.
Blood Libel and Child Murder
In the past, a common trope was that Jews would kill babies in order to use their blood for rituals–often called the Blood Libel.
Nowadays, the part about the blood being used for rituals sounds a little old-fashioned and is usually skipped over, but the idea that Jews and Israelis are happy to kill babies is probably one of the most common themes, shouted on every march and demonstration, and depicted on placards around the world.
And this trope is not just the preserve of hot-heads and students on demonstrations; last July, BBC journalist Anjana Gadgil had to apologise for expressing exactly this view when interviewing an Israeli politician for the BBC.
Catherine Lough
So when we look at the title of Michael Sandle's picture, he is employing this trope when he suggests that the Israeli–and therefore Jewish–fighter pilot is part of the "mass slaughter of defenceless women and children". Sandle implies–as do the Saturday marchers, the BBC anchors, and indeed, the 1930s front cover of Der Stuermer–that Israel sets out to kill women and children, and that's just what Jews do.
Whatever you think of the war in Gaza; whether you think that Israel is entitled to defend itself against Hamas, or not; whether you think there is some other way to defeat Hamas...no matter what your views are about the war, it is clearly, depressingly, shockingly anti-Semitic to claim that the only reason Israel would wage such a war is because it 'enjoys killing babies'.
Mass Slaughter
It's not just the easy use of the anti-Semitic trope about babies that is shocking in Sandle's piece; it's also the trivialisation of words like slaughter– or in this case mass slaughter.
To slaughter, is to kill in large numbers, and to kill in a particularly bloody and brutal fashion. The word also conveys a sense of rounding up, of corralling, before the killing takes place.
But not only is this not happening in Gaza, it's particular offensive to use these words when the cause of the current round of the conflict in Gaza is the pogrom and slaughter of 7.10. On that day young people at the Nova music festival were trapped and slaughtered in bunkers. On that day families were trapped and burned in their homes in Kibbutzim.
The Cost of War
In Gaza at the moment we do not see an intentional slaughter of women and children. That's not to say that women and children are not dying, but the goal of the war is not to target them directly. The objectives are clear–to eradicate Hamas, so that it is no longer a threat to the safety of Israeli citizens.
How this is to be achieved is one of the most difficult tasks ever to face a nation and an army that does not revel in death. Hamas has spent nearly two decades building military infrastructure in Gaza that is completely entwined with civilian life. There are kilometers of tunnels under the ground that connect hospitals, mosques, schools, and houses, all of which are used as cover for attacks on Israeli forces.
And as was illustrated recently with the killing of Hamas leaders Mohamed Deif and Rafa Salama, the terrorists have no qualms about embedding themselves among civilians in an attempt to avoid attack.
Daniel Ben-Ami
Israeli forces go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties–all of which is well documented, if we choose to look away from the propaganda and lazy anti-Semitic tropes for a moment, and read and think for ourselves.
John Spencer
Whether Israel could do better here is a different point; what Sandle's picture implies is that Israel is indifferent to casualties, because its intent is to kill women and children.
Art and Propaganda
Ultimately, the Royal Academy has decided not to remove Sandle's piece. We are solidly for free speech, and if they deem this work to be 'art' rather than a propaganda poster–and they feel they can justify this to their members and visitors–then that is their choice.
This decision is now itself part of the debate.
But just as they are free to exhibit such propaganda, so too we are free to point out the anti-Semitism in the drawing, and how it creates a dangerous fog of confusion around the war. And as a result, expect to see many more accusations of Jews as 'baby killers', on placards and in chants, on marches and protests.
Further Reading
The Antisemitism Policy Trust, which advises Parliamentarians on anti-Semitism, has produced an important and thorough booklet called Antisemitic Imagery and Caricatures, which outlines some of the key themes in anti-Semitic imagery.
