'Antisemitic' Margate 'art' exhibition condemned

Matthew Collings' work is currently being exhibited in Kent, with local police saying they will take no action, describing the work as 'criticism of the Israeli state'. An exhibition featuring the paintings of the Evening Standard's former art critic has been condemned for its "use of Nazi imagery", in which Jews are reportedly "depicted as blood-soaked, baby eating demons" - but which local police have confirmed they will be taking no action against. "Drawings Against Genocide", an exhibition by Matthew Collings at Margate's Joseph Wales gallery, features childlike drawings of IDF soldiers and politicians including Trump and Netanyahu, as well as prominent British Jews, including Sir Simon Schama and Mark Gardner, Chief Executive of the Community Security Trust. As well as depictions of IDF soldiers grinning while standing over skulls and blood, Collings' pictures include one of a naked Benjamin Netanyahu, with the words "Israel" and "Greater Israel" written on him, spewing blood from his mouth and the words "change reality" and "hypnotism" in front of him while he chants "invade Iran, invade Iran." The caption alongside the drawing reads: "It's the project, not the guy - it really doesn't matter if he's alive or dead" - which appears to be referring to Zionism as a whole. Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up The exhibition also identifies key British Jews as the target of the artist's ire. "Simon Schama, genial BBC historian, condemns the protests against the genocide as a 'weekly kristallnacht' reads one, alongside a representation of Schama himself. Schama has described Collings' exhibition as "appalling". Another shows Mark Gardner, Chief Executive of CST, describing how in the artist's opinion he "is always being invited onto the BBC to lie about the motives of the many Jews who condemn Israel's genocide in Gaza." Journalist Zoe Strimpel described her experience at the gallery at the weekend, describing how she was "shocked by the use of Nazi imagery - the room is full of the Star of David pasted around figures meant to be Israelis and the Jewish 'lobby' spewing blood, to say nothing of blonde yummy mummies wearing 'globalise the intifada' shirts, I spoke to the artist to share my reaction as a Jewish person. "He was instantly aggressive. As soon as I started to say I was shocked and threatened by what I was seeing because it was Nazi imagery, the artist started yelling at me that I didn't mean anything I was saying." In a Facebook post, Collings described the incident as "Zionist nonsense". The artist said that a "well dressed middle class educated person" came to his show and "shouted at me that as a Jew she felt she was in an unsafe place and she was going to complain to the police". "Someone else in the room said 'I'm a Jew and I don't feel unsafe'. I would say my feeling personally is that this Zionist nonsense of making all these false allegations so antisemitism can be conflated with anti-Zionism has run out of effectiveness." Strimpel said she was subsequently contacted by Kent police, who told her that Collings' work was "criticism of the Israeli state", and that "because some Israelis happen to be Jews it doesn't mean it's antisemitic." The journalist described how "this well-spoken man telling me that hail of swastikas and blood and Jews was nothing but 'criticism of the Israeli state' is why we are where we are, why Jews don't expect anything from the police, and how we find that Kent police are exactly in tune with Matthew Collings." Another picture in Collings' exhibition shows three individuals with what appear to be hypnotic circles on their stomachs and the Israeli flag behind them, with all three saying "I am nuts". "They are nuts and utterly in control", reads the caption below the picture. Another is labelled "violence and sadistic depravity is the meaning of Zionism, not 'homeland', next to a reference to Kathe Kollwitz, a German artist who was persecuted by the Nazis. Still another says: "There is no 'rise in global antisemitism' since the Hamas raid on October 7th. There is a global protest against Israel's mass murder of Gazans, and the lying, and the complicity of world leaders, and the mainstream press." The quote appears to be attributed to Jewish-Canadian artist Philip Guston, despite Guston having died almost 50 years ago. Yet another painting shows the owner of Sotheby's, French-Israeli Patrick Drahi. It describes him as a "fanatic Zionist", devouring a child with blood running from his pointed teeth. The caption says: "Hey look I'm selling a fantastic painting while eating a baby alive." As reported by The Telegraph, Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, is featured in another picture alongside bank notes and an Israeli flag, with speech bubbles coming out of her mouth saying "I am a Zionist" and "I am paid by Israel". Alex Hearn of the Labour Against Antisemitism organisation said: "I'm rarely shocked by this stuff, but having seen the images from the exhibition I feel sick. Jews are depicted as blood-soaked, baby eating demons, controlling the British government. It literally revels in being racist." David Hirsh, director of the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (LCSCA) said that the exhibition was "specifically Nazi in its antisemitic content. This isn't art-criticism, it's worrying about a political culture that makes Jews into the symbol of all evil, the key to history. Nazis weren't evil in the abstract, they were obsessed by their imagined Jewish threat." Thanet District Council said it had removed references to the exhibition after concerns were raised. A council spokesperson said: "Visit Thanet lists many events, activities and exhibitions on its website. Once the council was contacted regarding the nature of the content, the link to this exhibition was removed. "The council is not affiliated with the gallery or this exhibition and apologises sincerely for any distress or offence that has been caused." In 2019, Collings was suspended from the Labour party shortly after he was announced as the party's candidate for the parliamentary constituency of South West Norfolk. Social media posts by Collings had been uncovered, which included a meme shared in 2018 which claimed that "antisemitism and Blairite uproar regarding it dramatically increases when Labour pull ahead in the polls". In an early 2019 post, a response to footage uncovered of far-left MP Richard Burgon describing Zionism as "the enemy of peace". Collings said: "Burgon should just say, Look there's a witchhunt McCarthy thing going on where you have to lie & not tell the truth. That's why I lied. Of course Zionism is the enemy of peace."