Protest Works – Palestinian event WILL go ahead in Manchester
JVL Introduction
The event to celebrate Palestinian poetry will now go ahead as planned. The venue’s decision to cancel provoked a huge response from local people in Manchester and from artists across the country. Some of the issues were outlined in Robert Lizar’s article that we published on 1st April. The earlier decision to cancel followed a letter from the “Jewish Representation Committee of Greater Manchester” to the venue (HOME), who have now apologised not least for the distress it has caused. Their full statement can be read here.
We welcome HOME’s recognition that it had been mistaken and their apology and we acknowledge them for reversing that decision. We also acknowledge the tenacity of the local protestors and others who showed us all that protesting make a difference.
LL
This article was originally published by Manchester Evening News on Thu 4 Apr 2024. Read the original here.
HOME apologises and says Palestinian event will go ahead after protest by artists
Artists removed their work from the venue last night in protest of the decision to cancel an event scheduled to take place this month
A Manchester arts venue has announced that an event showcasing work by Palestinian artists will now go ahead, following protests over its cancellation last week. HOME has apologised for the ‘distress’ and ‘upset’ caused by its initial decision to cancel the event.
The U-turn comes after artists removed their work from an exhibition at the city centre venue last night (April 3) in protest of the decision to cancel the Voices of Resilience event. Around 70 pieces of art were removed from the Manchester Open exhibition.
The show which was due to take place on April 22 was billed as an evening of poetry and writing by Palestinians in Manchester and Gaza. It was cancelled after the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester wrote a letter raising concerns about the event.
In a statement last week, HOME said it is a ‘politically neutral space’ and that the safety of staff, audiences and artists was ‘paramount’. But this afternoon (April 4), the venue announced that the event will be going ahead. In a statement on its website, HOME said: “The initial cancellation of the Voices of Resilience event was a difficult decision for HOME. We recognise how deeply this decision has affected communities and groups across Manchester and beyond, and we apologise for any distress or upset caused.
“We support Palestinian and all community voices, and acknowledge that we can learn from how this was handled. We regret that this has had such wide-reaching impacts.
“Since our initial statement, we have continued to collaborate and consult with stakeholders and the artists involved, and to review and develop plans. We have reached out to partners in the city for assistance and have been able to access additional resources that will support us delivering the event. As a result, we are now in a position to confirm that the Voices of Resilience event will take place at HOME, created and curated by CommaPress.
“HOME has always been a space for all voices, with a commitment to championing equality and diversity at the heart of our work. This commitment has never changed, and we recognise that there is work to be done now, to restore the well-earned confidence that our audiences and artists have always held in HOME. We are committed to continuing these conversations with all affected by recent events.
“We stand with all innocent victims of this conflict, and call for a humanitarian solution. Details of the upcoming Voices of Resilience event will be announced shortly.”
Responding to the decision, the organisers said: “Comma Press and the producers behind Voices of Resilience welcome Home’s decision to reinstate the event. This is a potential watershed moment in the campaign against the intimidation that arts venues face for showcasing Palestinian artists and voices.
“We are hugely grateful to have a commitment from HOME for broader dialogues about supporting political work and fostering greater community cohesion and look forward to forging that path. We want to express our solidarity with HOME staff.
“For all of us involved in the showing of this work it has been a distressing time, on top of the news we are seeing from Gaza and the ongoing genocide being committed against Palestinian people. We’ve been deeply moved and overwhelmed by the solidarity shown to us by the artist community in Manchester, whose actions in protest and support of Voices of Resilience stand as a testament to the strength of our collective voice.
Image: Amplify Gaza Stories
“We urge other venues and institutions to take inspiration from what has become a collaborative and active listening process between us and HOME. We hope that other venues and institutions can initiate fresh conversations with artists, speakers, and creators whose work has previously been side-lined or cancelled. We believe this is a critical step towards upholding values of artistic expression and inclusivity.
“We still have faith in Manchester as a radical place.”
Manchester council deputy leader Luthfur Rahman said: “As a local authority, we don’t get involved in the day to day running of any institution, but I’m pleased to have played a part in supporting HOME come to a decision to reinstate Voices of Resilience. We remain committed to making sure artists express themselves fully and I am personally committed to making sure Palestinian voices are heard.”
The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region responded to the announcement by saying: “We have noted with dismay the decision to reinstate the Voices of Resilience event at HOME”.
“Despite raising the legitimate concerns of our community around one of the contributors who has made disturbing and inappropriate references to the Holocaust, and has unquestionably engaged in antisemitic hate speech, the JRC have had no contact at any stage with anyone from Home.”
Does your community condemn the Genocide being committed by Israel against the Palestinians, should be enough to send the likes of JRC packing
Time for a clean break from Zionism
What community are you referring to?
Excellent news!
Keep talking about Palestine.
Their voices will not be silenced.
Great news. I am still trying to find out what threats were used against the Barbican , which succeeded in panicking the venue into to cancelling the whole series of LRB talks because of Pankaj MIshra’s excellent historical essay on the use and abuse of Holocaust memory… I presume threats to funding must have been a strong motive? I mention this particular venue because several artists also withdrew their work from the Barbican gallery, but without having as much success as the artists in Manchester.
On Thursday evening a demonstration and poetry reading was held outside
HOME which was attended by a large crowd despite the rain. Originally called as part of a continuing protest against HOME’s cowardly decision to cancel the Palestinian event “Voices of Resilience”, the meeting was transformed at the last minute into a bitter-sweet celebration of this minor victory, which also served as a reminder both of the power of mass protest and of the moral imperative for all of us to continue to widen the struggle against the criminal complicity in genocide of our entire ruling class.
The poetry readings were very moving, with poems carefully chosen from mostly Palestinian poets, including by Mahmoud Darwish and Refaat Alareer, the latter murdered by the IOF in December. Amongst the very diverse audience I recognised a few familiar academic faces who would never have turned up previously to such an event and who just a few years ago swallowed the antisemitism propaganda hook, line and sinker; this is a real sign of change. There was a strong Jewish representation, including from JVL, Na’amod and Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine, with several from those groups reciting poems. This was very warmly received.
Although HOME’s decision to cancel “Voices of Resilience” has been rescinded, we will need to continue to apply pressure because it is almost certain that the apartheid lobby will not take this defeat lying down. Nonetheless I believe there is a sea change of opinion and that the vicious nonsense propounded by apartheid front organisations posing as representative of British Jews no longer resonates with the majority of the public; though unfortunately it does serve to increase antisemitism amongst the politically ignorant. In Manchester there is an excellent understanding amongst activists for Palestine that the collaboration of Jewish groups such as JVL with the movement is absolutely vital in combatting both anti-Palestinian racism and antisemitism.
Mike
You cannot be from the Jewish Community and support Israels Genocide
There is no single Jewish community (just as there is no single Christian/Irish/Icelandic…. community).
Sadly many of those regarded by themselves, if by few others, as ‘community leaders’ do support genocide, or at least take no steps to try to stop it.
The good news is that the dissident Jewish communities who view genocide with horror and campaign to stop it are growing in strength and are increasingly making their voices heard.
Thank goodness for this news. I have found the hypocritical censorship of everything liable to be upsetting for political zionists to be stifling.
It has been a great collaboration between the existing pro Palestine groups in Manchester including several Jewish groups JVL, Greater Manchester Community for Palestine, GM Palestine Action, Naamod and Youth Action for Palestine. The artists who removed 70 pieces of their work from the Home galleries was a very powerful statement too. I’m very proud of what we did and that eventually Home listened. I hope that they will be much more careful in future.
Mike
Hiding behind the Jewish Community and the Holocaust is key to Israels propaganda, not least the long running AS Scam
Enough
You cannot be a Jew and support Genocide, thems the rules
82% of Israels population don’t think the Genocide is going fast enough, Israel is now a Pariah state in the eyes of humanity
Going forward it will be all about complicity, look at British Civil Servants refusing to process Arms sales to Israel
At some stage those responsible will be held liable, there’s no going back from here
In answer to Mike Cushman the actual self-defining community that attacked the HOME exhibition was according to the BBC the “Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester”.
A couple of years ago the same organisation attempted to shut down an exhibit at the Whitworth Gallery, Manchester. Again, they initially had the event censored but then counter-protests were successful in reinstating it.
Their site lists them as an organisation of long standing – up to 100yrs or so. Not much available about how democratic they are, and their management seems to be exclusively corporate bosses and includes someone from the CST. See link –
https://jewishmanchester.org/about/