London museum removes ‘criminal Israel’ posters after complaints
The Geffrye Museum in Dalston has taken down the 'appalling' artefacts from its ’typical teenage bedrooms' display
A London museum has removed posters protesting against ‘criminal Israel’ from an exhibit on ’typical’ British teen bedrooms.
The Geffrye Museum in Dalston took down two posters from its display, which read ‘criminal Israel’ and ‘Gaza – End the Siege Now.’
Following a number of complaints, the museum said they removed the items “because we don’t want to offend visitors.”
A spokesperson added, “It is a small display of photographs of teenage bedrooms, objects from the rooms and accompanying testimony from the teenagers about their rooms. The Gaza poster appears in the background of a photograph of one of the bedrooms. It is not discussed in the text and the image wasn’t selected because of the poster. The image was selected to make a number of other points about teenagers’ bedrooms Having received feedback from a recent visitor, we have now taken down the image.”
The exhibition, which explores the the significance of 26 contemporary teenage bedrooms, used a range of artefacts to reflect “cultural and emotional lives beyond the home”.
“Emma C”, who asked not to be identified, visited the exhibition last weekend with her children. She told Jewish News she was “appalled”, adding: “We were all shocked to see the exhibit in the museum which is a public place, especially in light of current political climate.
“We live in a country that encourages racial and religious tolerance rather than in one that promotes racism of any form and against any race or religion. We are glad the museum understood our concerns and removed the image.”
Fellow visitor “Naomi N”, said she felt “absolutely incensed and very uncomfortable”. She added: “I could not believe that the museum would condone using the picture in their display! I am relieved that they have decided to take it down.”
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