Beware antisemitic octopi
JVL Introduction
CORRECTION: Incredibly, we were wrong when we said the council involved is Tory-run. It’s Labour.
UPDATE Thurs 14th at 5.30pm: some good news; the Tory councillors’ motion (see below) has been withdrawn but it remains to be seen if tonight’s council meeting will result in the mural being restored.
The absurd lengths to which pro-Israel advocates will go to erase Palestine from the public realm never cease to amaze.
The latest example comes from North Tyneside where the Labour-run council has removed a children’s mural, which has adorned a wall at Tynemouth station for 12 uneventful years, at the instigation of the self-styled Campaign Against Antisemitism. The CAA has persuaded the good burghers of N. Tyneside that a fanciful sea creature copied from the work of an established American artist is meant to evoke Nazi antisemitic cartoons representing Jews as many-tentacled octopi. The initial pretext for taking down the mural was that it was in danger of being vandalised, but calls for it to be restored made the local news.
This is how the mural was described at the time of its creation:
“The graffiti-style, spray painted artwork was created by young Palestinian visitors from Shatila Refugee Camp in Beirut, Lebanon and their teachers, in July to August 2012, working with the North Tyneside artists, Faye Oliver and Anthony Downie. It forms part of the ongoing work of the Shatila Theatre Trust, building cultural links between the north-east of England and the camp.”
This Thursday (March 14) the council will debate a motion rejecting a petition from local people calling for the mural to be restored. A letter to councillors from the petitioners reminds them of the recent case in which a Tory peer had to withdraw antisemitism allegations she had made against a student appearing on University Challenge in a team with a blue stuffed toy octopus as its mascot. No less absurd was the removal of Palestinian children’s art from a London hospital on the pretext that Jewish patients were upset by it. They weren’t.
We reproduce below the motion from Conservative councillors and the petitioners’ letter, along with a letter to councillors from JVL officer Marion Roberts who happens to be Emeritus Professor of Urban Design and expert on street art. Plus some relevant images. We have also added a Jews of the NE Statement of Support letter.
NWI
Petitioners’ letter to North Tyneside councillors calls mural removal “a cynical and dangerous act of divisiveness”
Dear Councillors
We are writing to you as we are aware that the local Conservative Councillors on NTC have tabled a motion for debate on the Palestinian Mural that was on display on Tynemouth Station. The motion as it stands is a cynical and dangerous act of divisiveness typical of a desperate party stooping to weaponise antisemitism and make false claims about a piece of children’s artwork that has been part of Tynemouth for the past twelve years.
The Mural was commissioned as an act of friendship with children from the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon, and was supported by both the Tory Mayor Linda Arkley (NTC sent a mini bus to collect the children) and by Alan Campbell MP (who helped with visas). There has been no mention of so called antisemitic tropes by anyone over the period the Mural has been on display.
The Tory motion claims that a “blue octopus” is an antisemitic trope. The mural contains a blue fantasy creature, created by children and based on the work of an established Los Angeles artist Camille Rose Garcia and a painting of hers entitled “Royal Disorder Subterranean Invasion.” The creature in the mural has six legs or tentacles – as you know an octopus has eight.
The local Tories clearly haven’t been following the fortunes of fellow outrider Baroness Foster who has paid substantial damages and had to apologise to a student appearing on University Challenge whose team sported a stuffed toy blue octopus as their mascot. The Baroness’s false accusation of antisemitism caused a huge and damaging impact on the young student’s life.
Making similar accusations about this piece of artwork could lead to a similar legal challenge by both the local artists involved in the mural, and indeed by Camille Rose Garcia who has been made aware of the situation, should this outrageous motion be passed and their work deemed to be antisemitic.
This whole “octopus” issue has a propensity to descend into the realm of the ridiculous and seriously undermines any fight against genuine antisemitic acts and symbols.
There is a children’s book – Oscar the Octopus: A Hanukkah Tale written by Rabbi Ron Isaacs for Jewish children, the cover of which is a blue octopus.
The Boatyard cafe in Cullercoats has a blue octopus logo and it’s crockery sports an octopus logo.
Tynemouth Aquarium has a stack of blue octopuses on the shelves of its gift shop according to their web page.
It is really ironic that a stall on Tynemouth Market right next to the space where the mural was placed, regularly has swastika flags, badges and other Nazi memorabilia displayed and there’s not been a peep about that being offensive – which it really is – from these local Tories.
Our petition to restore the mural has now reached over 1000 signatures and it was made live on 20th of February 2024.
We are requesting that you and your fellow Councillors, expose this motion for what it really is – a malicious, damaging and opportunistic attempt at divisiveness and hate – by voting against it.
Yours sincerely
The Restore The Tynemouth Station Petition Mural Petitioners.
Tory Councillors’ motion says imagery “evokes historical antisemitic tropes”
Motion 8 – Motion on the Tynemouth Palestine Mural – signed by Councillor Liam Bones, John Johnsson and Lewis Bartoli
North Tyneside Council recognises Concerns Regarding the Palestinian Mural North Tyneside Council acknowledges the significant role of public art in reflecting our community’s values and aspirations.
Upon confirmation from the Campaign Against Antisemitism, it has been brought to our attention that the imagery of the octopus in the Palestinian mural in Tynemouth evokes historical anti-Semitic tropes, notably utilised in propaganda during World War II by figures like Nazi propagandist Joseph Plank and earlier during the Dreyfus Affair in France.
Given the alarming increase in global antisemitic attacks amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, there are genuine concerns that the presence of such imagery in public spaces could contribute to the hatred and intolerance directed towards Jewish people.
North Tyneside Council reaffirms its unwavering commitment to combatting bigotry and discrimination within our community.
Consequently, the Council does not support the reinstatement of the Palestinian mural to any public location within our borough, acknowledging the valid concerns raised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism regarding the mural’s content.
Furthermore, the Council commits to collaborating with relevant stakeholders to review processes for all future public art installations.
These processes aim to prevent the inclusion of any content that may perpetuate anti-Semitism or foster hatred and intolerance. Legal and Financial Implications in relation to this Motion will be circulated prior to the meeting.”
Letter from Marion Roberts says mural displays “not one shred of antisemitic intent”
To North Tyneside Councillors
Dear Councillors
I am writing in support of the petition to reinstate the Tynemouth Palestine Mural. My credentials and interest come from many years of teaching and research about street art as an Emeritus Professor of Urban Design who happens to be Jewish.
The text accompanying the mural state that the intention of the work is to create cultural links and better understanding and friendship between young people in a Lebanese refugee camp and people in the region. It is possible that some of these might be refugees themselves. There is not one shred of antisemitic intent in the purpose of the work, nor in its creation.
Which brings us to the ‘trope’ cited by the CAA. There is absolutely no rational equation to be made between the form or context of the six-legged sea creature in the mural and the octopus drawn by Josef Plank. Plank’s cartoon was an explicitly antisemitic piece of Nazi propaganda with a Star of David drawn over an octopus’s head. The six-legged creature is part of a friendship mural drawn by a young artist copying an artwork by Camille Rose Garcia and adding their initials. The two creatures bear no relationship to each other in their shape. Evidence for the emptiness of the comparison is demonstrated by the lack of complaints for 12 years. People using Tynemouth station must have enjoyed the mural for its charming and colourful imagery, drawn from many different sources, which enlivened a well-used space.
Councillors should be aware that the Campaign Against Antisemitism is being investigated by the Charity Commission with five outstanding complaints brought by another Jewish organisation for infringing their charitable objects. One could legitimately ask if it is actually the word ‘Palestine’ on the mural that the CAA is really objecting to?
Yours faithfully,
Marion Roberts
THE MURAL vs THE NAZI CARTOON
Left: Section of the Tynemouth mural with six-legged fantasy sea creature among other children’s artworks.
Right: Nazi propaganda cartoon by Josef Plank
Below, young Palestinian artists at work on their visit to North Tyneside in 2012
Jews of the NE Statement of Support Tynemouth Mural
13.03.2024
The octopus is a widespread image/figure in political satire and is not exclusively used to depict Jewish people. British caricaturist Frederick W. Rose depicted Russia as a giant octopus seeking to control Eastern Europe in 1870. The British Empire was also portrayed as an octopus expanding and conquering with its tentacles, and Germany was featured widely as this giant sea creature in French caricatures and propaganda. While the Third Reich used octopuses as an antisemitic trope, this does not make all images of octopuses inherently antisemitic, as councillors are no doubt aware. Just last week, former MEP Jacqueline Foster apologised and paid damages to Melika Gorgianeh, a doctoral student, after wrongly saying an octopus soft toy used as her University Challenge team’s mascot was chosen as an antisemitic symbol (The Guardian, March 6th 2024). Antisemitic octopus cartoons have historically included racialised imagery or symbols like the Star of David to clarify their intent. Antisemitic caricatures and messages are not often hidden or vague.
To remove a mural (“The Friendship”) by child refugees on the spurious grounds that their seaside visit produced a design including a six-tentacled octopus is not only an act in bad faith but also another example of how antisemitism and Jewish history are being abused and weaponised in support of anti-Palestinian views. The claim that the children’s mural is antisemitic itself relies on a racist trope in which any Palestinian self-expression is assumed to be proximate to antisemitism simply by existing. The aim of this motion is not to protect Jews in the North East, but rather to assist in the ongoing destruction of Palestinian culture on behalf of the Israeli State. Put another way, we see there is a direct line between this action and the bombing of churches, mosques, universities and libraries in Gaza.
Tynemouth has a rich history of opening its doors to refugees. Only half a mile from where this mural was displayed, a blue plaque memorialises the story of more than twenty Jewish girls who fled Nazi Persecution and arrived at Tynemouth via the Kindertransport in 1939. They were cared for by the Newcastle Jewish refugee community and the broader community of Tyneside. They resided in a house owned by one of our group’s ancestors. Seven decades later, on 31 July, 2012, ten children and three teachers arrived in North Tyneside and started the 2012 Shatila Street Art Project. They came from Shatila refugee camp, a place with a long and tragic history, from its foundation as a camp set up to accommodate Palestinian refugees who had been expelled from their homes during the 1948 Nakba to becoming a site of a horrific massacre during the Lebanon Civil War in 1982. Their visit took place during the 30th-year commemoration. The mural has become a treasured symbol of Palestinian culture and resilience in the North East and a part of our heritage of welcoming people whose lives have been marked by conflict.
Don’t let down these refugees and upend Tynside’s commitment to harbouring refugees, cultivating meaningful collaboration and cultural exchange.
We, as local Jews, say: not in our names.
Signed:
Dr Ellie Armon Azoulay (Newcastle University), Dr Lauren Ackerman (Newcastle University), Dr Sam Berlin (Durham University), Dr Adam Stock (York St John University), Prof. Anna Secor (Durham University), Dr Sage Brice (Durham University), Dr Sarah Mercer (Northumbria University, retired), Scarlet Hall, Benny Ross, and Gay Bernstone.
Reversible plush soft toy octopuses are used to express emotional state and relieve stress by people with autism – blue side for sad, pink side for happy. This is what led to Greta Thunberg being accused of antisemitism when hers was shown in a photograph last October.
This might be of interest.
The article contains a series of political cartoons from the 19th century to the 1950s, each with an octopus’ tentacles reaching across an area or round the whole globe. The device was used for Russia (pre- and post-communist); the British Empire; Germany and Austria; Japan; America; and the Standard Oil Company. The anti-Jewish cartoon that you show is from the Nazi era and shows Winston Churchill as an octopus, but with the Star of David above his head. The article has a second anti-semitic use, from 1894, with the octopus labelled as the Rothschilds.
All together, this would suggest that, while the linking of an octopus’ tentacles to Jews is definitely antisemitic, the octopus itself – without that intent – is not an antisemitic device. And octopus toys are even further away from an antisemitic use; the link to it seems very tenuous.
Can I put in the link to the article? It’s good! Or would you want to check it out first?
https://neverwasmag.com/2017/08/the-octopus-in-political-cartoons/
of course you can! – JVL web editor
In the dictionary , the tentacles of an octopus is a expression that is used to describe a central company etc , with many subsidiary companies or branches . There is nothing anti Semitic in the description , but the CAA are clinging to anything , and everything it can to shut down any legitimising of the term . They are so desperate to make themselves important , despite being shown to be nothing but a tool to shut down legitimate discourse .
The CAA operate on the basis that anything that they find offensive is antisemitic and should be removed because it offends them and therefore must be antisemitic …. it’s a crazy circular argument that doesn’t allow for discussion …. ever …. and it’s an argument they deploy repeatedly against anyone who offends them …. whatever they say about the world is true by virtue of them saying it …..
Oh dear, I get my electricity from Octopus Energy. Does that make me Anti-Semitic, or the whole of the company? Ridiculous.
Why should it be necessary to produce long explanations like this to justify the continued existence of this mural or the use of a fluffy octopus as a mascot for a university quiz team, when the original accusation was clearly nonsense and made with malicious intent?
These kind of claims of uncovering latent antisemitism, which have no merit whatsoever, will continue to be made until the individuals and organisations making them are robustly challenged on every occasion.
When I examined the research methodology of the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s (CAA) claims about the incidence of antisemitism in the UK in 2018 I concluded it was abysmally poor, yet this pernicious organisation continues to be accepted in many circles as a reliable arbiter of what is and what is not antisemitism. No wonder Starmer is afraid to make even the slightest criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza. The sooner the CAA is discredited the better.
Speaking as the former Principal Arts Officer for the Borough of North Tyneside (1990-1992), this level of bullshit would never have been allowed to pass in my day.
I worked very closely with a wonderful Jewish resident and Labour Party stalwart of Tynemouth, Ylana First, promoting numerous cultural events at Tynemouth Station.
She played an instrumental role in the campaign to have the unique Grade II listed station and its expanse of ornate, glazed, cast iron canopies restored.
Thanks to the tireless dedication of Ylana, the restoration was completed in 2012 – its 130th anniversary year – and was opened by HRH The Princess Royal.
Today it is architecturally stunning and is considered to be one of the finest examples of Victorian railway architecture in Britain.
In 2020 she was awarded with the freedom of the borough.
You couldn’t make this up but, sadly, making things up is part of the zionists’ stock in trade. The co-called Campaign Against Antisemitism should be laughed out of town.
I’ve spoken to my former boss today and apparently the council line is that the mural is being removed to protect it from threats to paint it over, which have been received in the wake of the Tories kicking up a fuss in the local press. I’ve asked to be told where it is to be relocated.
Les May,
I don’t think it’s the CAA that Starmer’s afraid of. More likely it’s his/the Labour party’s numerous Zionist donors.
Shocked and horrified when the mural was removed and even more shocked that the councillors have so much time on their hands to carry on being so divisive, inhumane and unpresentative of the people who live in Tynemouth and vote them in!! Restore this painting immediately and stop this campaign of hunting out antisemitism where there is NONE!!!