A Child's View From Gaza
Date: 2011
Region: North America
Subject: Political
Medium: Drawing
Venue: Museum Of Children's Art (MOCHA)
Confronting Bodies: US Israel Lobby
Dates of Action: September 8th, 2011
Location: Oakland, California, USA
Description of Artwork: Artwork made by children in Gaza who lived through Israel’s attacks in the winter of 2008-09.
The Incident: The collection of original artwork was scheduled to be exhibited in September by the Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland (MOCHA), but due to intimidation and pressure from Israeli lobby groups, the museum canceled the exhibit at the last minute.
Results of Incident: Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) arranged for the artwork to be shown at a vacant gallery space around the corner from the children’s museum. Days before the doors opened, MOCHA’s board told MECA’s executive director Barbara Lubin that they could reinstate the exhibit at the original museum space, but that the collection would have to be “modified.”
Lubin and MECA responded: "We at MECA made a commitment to the children of Gaza to share their experiences and perspectives, and consider any modifications to the art exhibit as a form of censorship. Children everywhere deserve to be heard, but we have an even greater responsibility to listen to the stories of children under siege and who survived Israel’s brutal military assault in 2008-2009."
Source: http://electronicintifada.net/blog/nora/book-censored-gaza-childrens-artwork-published and http://electronicintifada.net/content/gaza-childrens-images-war-censored-under-pressure-us-israel-lobby/10373#.Tto5l3NW7Gg