Well, here's an act of courage that will put panties in a twist throughout the diplomatic circuit. Huzzah for Zvi Mazel!
Israel on Saturday demanded that Sweden remove an artwork depicting a Palestinian suicide bomber displayed at a Stockholm museum, which was partially destroyed by Israel's ambassador to Sweden on Friday, Israel Radio reported.Posted by Alan at January 17, 2004 09:04 AMThe artwork, entitled "Snow White and the Madness of Truth," consisted of a rectangular basin filled with red water on which floated a boat carrying a portrait of Islamic Jihad suicide bomber Hanadi Jaradat, who killed herself and 21 others in an attack at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa on October 4.
Ambassador Zvi Mazel was among the guests at the opening of the Historical Museum's exhibition linked to an international anti-genocide conference to be held in Stockholm from January 26 to 28.
Public service SR radio news said Mazel furiously ripped out electrical wires attached to the artwork and threw a spotlight in the basin.
"This was not a piece of art," Mazel told SR. "It was a monstrosity. An obscene distortion of reality."
The Foreign Ministry said that the display was a violation of understandings between Israel and Sweden. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the Swedish government had promised not to link the conference with the Middle East conflict.
"The exhibit that glorified the actions of a suicide bomber who murdered 22 people is a violation of that understanding, and if it is not removed, Israel will reconsider its participation in the conference," the ministry said.
via Haaretz