Israeli visitors called ‘crazy child killers’ and ejected from Madrid museum

Three elderly Israeli women were forcibly expelled from Madrid’s Reina Sofía museum on Saturday 14 February after visitors harassed them for displaying Jewish symbols, including a Star of David necklace and Israeli flag.

The Spanish news outlet Okdiario first reported the incident. According to its account, museum-goers reacted angrily to the women, with several shouting insults, including the accusation that they were “crazy child killers”, “murderers” and “genocidal maniacs”.

Staff at the Museum, which reports to the Ministry of Culture, offered them no protection, instead ordering them to leave, with an armed security guard personally escorting them from the building.

The three women were told “some visitors were disturbed” by their Jewish identity; those making the complaints were allowed to stay.

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Spain’s national museum of 20th century art, features works by Dali and Picasso.

Since 7 October 2023, it has presented an exhibition titled “From the River to the Sea” in solidarity with Palestinians, later changed to ‘Critical Thinking Gatherings, International Solidarity With Palestine’ following outrage from the Israeli embassy and the Jewish community; and also hosted anti-Israel demonstrations.

The museum website link to the pro-Palestine programme has been de-activated.

An event in May 2024, entitled ‘Situated Voices 31’, ‘Voices for Palestine against the World’s Militarisation’, referred to “the escalating genocide in Gaza in October 2023” and how “scores of collectives and people have supported the cause of the Palestinian people and their resistance against colonial practices of violence, control and apartheid brought to bear by the Israeli State in the form of daily war.”

In a statement on Twitter/X, The European Jewish Congress called the expulsion “deeply troubling and unacceptable. The women were reportedly asked to leave after staff claimed other visitors were “disturbed” by their Jewish identity. Instead of protecting those subjected to antisemitic abuse, the apparent decision to remove the victims raises serious concerns about discrimination within a public cultural institution.

“Jewish identity must never become grounds for exclusion. Such conduct demands full clarification, clear accountability and decisive action to ensure that antisemitism is confronted without ambiguity.”

Advocacy group StandWithUs said; “It is absolutely unacceptable for a museum to remove people simply because they are Jewish. The world must confront antisemitism, clearly and consistently, wherever it occurs.”

Jewish News has approached the Reina Sofia museum for comment.