Exhibit of Yasser Arafat cartoons removed from Palestinian museum after controversy
For many young Palestinians, the landmark Oslo accord, which Yasser Arafat signed with Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin 25 years ago on Thursday, was a betrayal that has only consolidated Israel's occupation AFP/File
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Since its inauguration, Sunday January 23, at the Yasser-Arafat foundation in Ramallah, the exhibition “Caricatures, Palestine and Arafat” has been controversial, especially on social networks.
The organizers therefore ended up removing the cartoons the following Monday.
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With our correspondent in Ramallah,
Alice Froussard
In front of the Arafat Foundation, there is no one.
No more cartoons to see.
On Monday, after popular pressure, officials from Fatah, the ruling party, went to the museum to remove the portraits exaggerating the features of the former Palestinian leader.
These 43 caricatures of the late Palestinian leader, recognizable by his black and white keffiyeh, are insulting, offensive to Yasser Arafat, believe some Palestinians and members of Fatah.
"
Low quality
"
“
I think the work on display was low quality anyway.
The exhibition clearly lacked supervision and proper management,
said a former employee of the Arafat Foundation.
Yasser Arafat is a national figure, who must be respected when these caricatures come from the museum that bears his name, it is very frustrating.
»
She makes it clear: the problem does not come from the caricatures alone, which allow artists to express their political opinion through drawings, but from the responsibility of the museum itself.
The fact that some of the Palestinian cartoonists were not invited to participate in the exhibition or the vernissage, due to their political affiliation, had also drawn criticism.
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Work more
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“
They could have, at least, worked more to be aware of the local context, the culture, the norms, the values of the Palestinians,
she judges.
And they didn't even think of giving the public the keys to understanding the cartoons with captions explaining why, for example, Yasser Arafat was drawn as a camel.
They left the public with only one option: to see these cartoons as disrespectful.
»
Because with a worn-out leadership and a Palestinian Authority that is no longer representative, many Palestinians still see Yasser Arafat as the sole leader who solidified the Palestinian resistance.
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To read also: Fifteen years after his death, Gaza retains fond memories of Yasser Arafat
(
November 11, 2019
)
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