The Newton Free Library is currently hosting an exhibit of fourteen photographs that Skip Schiel took during 2018-19 of Palestinians and of destruction in the West Bank. The exhibit, which will be on display throughout May, has been a source of controversy since it opened on May 1.
The concerns raised by supporters and opponents of the exhibit are based on issues of freedom of speech, charges of antisemitism, the timing of the exhibit, and differing representations of historical facts.
Schiel, a Cambridge-based photographer, titled his exhibit The Ongoing & Relentless Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe of 1948 to Today, and he said in its description, “To form its new state in 1948, Israel expelled some 750,000 Palestinians from their homes in what is now Israel—the Nakba or Palestinian Catastrophe.”
In an emailed newsletter, City Councilor David Micley (Ward 2) said it is not the exhibit’s photos but rather those statements by the artist that he finds “offensive and problematic.” Micley expressed his objection to the Library “being used as a platform to promote the artist’s politically charged and biased agenda.” He called on the Library to offer a balance of perspectives, and he countered Schiel’s description of the exhibit by stating that “Israel sought peace and co-existence with the Palestinians … and it was the ensuing war of 1948 launched by the surrounding Arab nations …, that led to Palestinians being displaced.”
Schiel, who describes himself as a “socially engaged, participatory photographer,” had applied for exhibition space at the Library last year and was accepted for this month’s exhibition opportunity by a Library committee last June.
The Library posted this statement by the exhibit:
The Library’s philosophy of providing open access to information and ideas and presenting diverse points of view extends to programming and exhibits. An exhibition in the Library does not constitute an endorsement of the content of the program or the views expressed by the exhibitors or participants.
In her newsletter, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said that while she believes the exhibit will be “quite hurtful and divisive,” she supports the Library’s decision to allow the exhibit “in accordance with our Library’s role in Newton of providing intellectual freedom and freedom of speech.” She noted that May is the month in which Jews mark the death of six million Jews in the Holocaust as well as the anniversary of Israel becoming a nation. She also said, “The Library is working to have resources on this complex and emotional issue from a wide range of perspectives.”
Reception disrupted
The Opening Reception for this exhibit was scheduled for the evening of May 9 in the Library’s Druker Auditorium. Schiel planned to talk, followed by three Newton residents of Palestinian descent who wanted to share their own reflections about what it means to have this exhibit.
A Newton lawyer, Douglas Hauer, organized “a silent demonstration holding signs” outside the Library during the reception, to protest the “antizionist, antisemitic art exhibit.” He later told Fig City News, “I support Skip Schiel’s First Amendment rights. I completely disagree with how he curates and narrates a one-sided history with facts that don’t tell the whole story. The Nakba and forced Jewish displacement are completely intertwined. It’s hurtful for Jews and Israelis living in Newton, still in October 7th shock, for Skip to talk about the Nakba but to ignore Jews experiencing displacement and fleeing violence in massive numbers after World War II. Jewish migration to Palestine was not a colonization; it was a forced migration. The Nakba should be discussed, but it cannot be understood without including all the historic forces of 1945-48.”
On the evening of the reception, the Library closed early for the event. An estimated 500 people lined up to be admitted, and the Library auditorium filled quickly. When its 176-person capacity was reached, Newton Police controlled further entry. One of the three local speakers, Hani Murad, told Fig City News afterward that shortly after the moderator asked all to be quiet and respectful, Schiel went to the podium, and protesters in the audience spoke so loudly that the scheduled speakers could not be heard. Murad said that after several minutes of members of the audience shouting – and in some cases singing – the speakers decided to leave the auditorium and go outside, in order to de-escalate the situation. He said, “They were disrespectful and intimidating. They did not want to engage in any discourse. We wanted to have a civil event, and they wanted to shut it down.”
Jeff Kosowsky, who attended the event, described the situation differently. He told Fig City News, “I reached out to the Mayor and the Library Director before the event, pointing out its inflammatory nature and asking for any one-sided event to be canceled – or at least to have a balanced context – but neither the Library nor the City would make any accommodation to allow for context and balance. At the event, the moderator said three things that ramped up the audience: 1, the program for the artist reception would include not just the artist but three Palestinian speakers. (We saw that as political.) 2, the audience must be 100% silent during the presentation. (The Mayor and Police chief had told us that First Amendment rights allowed speaking and booing.) And 3, all questions would have to be written on index cards. (So reviewed by the moderator.) The booing started with those offensive rules. People felt extremely shut down, captive to a completely unbalanced presentation. It went downhill from there, with both sides singing, yelling, and chanting. The Police seemed to give wide berth to freedom of expression and were focused on safety. No one got violent.”
Impromptu meeting outside the Library
The three Palestinian-American speakers and about 150 people who wanted to hear them then moved across Homer Street to the corner by the City Hall driveway. They did not have loudspeakers but used their voices in unison to repeat and amplify what was being said by the speakers.
[UPDATE] After the event, in response to a request by Fig City News, Murad provided this summary of his message on that day: “Skip Schiel’s library exhibit about the Nakba is important for the Palestinian people, as it reminds us of our displacement in 1948 and the immense suffering endured by generations of Palestinians since. The photos in the exhibit illustrate that in the midst of such devastation, the Palestinian people did not lose hope. We carry with us our commitment to our homeland. In the eyes of the refugees in the photographs, I see our people’s story, and our determination to preserve in our struggle for rights, identity, and dignity. I am saddened that some in the Newton community chose to shut down the exhibit’s reception with vicious shouting. We were denied the opportunity to share our message of peace and harmony with those who came in good faith to learn about our experience. I know the disrupters don’t represent the majority, but I worry that the majority may remain silent and let a small minority ruin Newton’s potential to be a community where we all belong and are respected.”
Around that time, Hauer’s group of silent protesters ended their demonstration and dispersed. As Hauer told Fig City News later, “Our objective was not to confront people. That’s counterproductive. Activism is a long game, and the long game is bringing people onto a more common ground for understanding each other.”
About 100 other protesters opposed to the exhibit remained on the Library side of Homer Street and across the City Hall driveway from the Palestinian speakers. They sang, chanted, used a bullhorn, and held signs saying:
- We stand against hate and antisemitism.
- We stand with Israel.
- Destroy Hamas. No ceasefire.
- Stop anti-semitism
The police had closed Homer Street and kept the two groups separated. By around 8PM, the Palestinian speakers had finished, and their group dispersed.
Ed. Note: We updated this article to include a summary provided by Hani Murad of what he said to the crowd that assembled across the street from the Library.
