By Gilad Atzmon

18 August 2010

Gilad Atzmon considers the attempts by British Zionists stop an exhibition of paintings by children from Gaza from being shown in UK schools in order to minimize the impact of Israeli war crimes on the British public.

“… what the Jewish community leaders who rush to assist the Jewish state are doing is giving a clear message of Jewish collective support of Israel and its crimes.”

Some British Jews are desperate to stop the truth about the Jewish state getting out. The Jewish Chronicle reported on 12 August that Jewish “community leaders are battling to stop an exhibition of paintings by children from Gaza being shown in schools in the north of England”.

Jewish campaigners say they have “no objection to the paintings, but have reacted with anger at a series of talks given to accompany them”.

The man behind the exhibition and the talks is Rod Cox, 62, who visited Gaza and the West Bank several times in recent years. The exhibition, “Loss of innocence”, has been on tour since September, visiting universities, town halls and, most recently, Manchester Cathedral. It was taken to a Quaker venue in Marple, Stockport, and plans are under way to take it to schools in the north west of England.

According to the president of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester, Lucille Cohen, "Rod Cox is disseminating hatred. His talk and the text accompanying his exhibition either indirectly implied or overtly conveyed a number of unsubstantiated assumptions about Israel. I am astounded that Christians of goodwill would seem willing to become a party to this."

I guess that Lucille Cohen has not read the Goldstone report. The list of Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity is overwhelming and totally substantiated. Thus, what the Jewish community leaders who rush to assist the Jewish state are doing is giving a clear message of Jewish collective support of Israel and its crimes. It is almost amusing to read the Zionist Lucille Cohen trying to tell Christians what the meaning of “goodwill” is.

According to the co-president of the Zionist Federation, Joy Wolfe, "If the pictures had been allowed to speak for themselves, most people, myself included, would have found little reason to criticize the concept of the exhibition. But they weren't. They were accompanied by Rod Cox's captions, which demonized Israel and invented some truly remarkable allegations."

The pictures obviously speak for themselves, and as for the Palestinian cause, it is slowly but surely becoming a universal cause. Someone also should remind the Zionist Wolfe that the children of Gaza are living under siege and neither they nor their pictures can travel around unless Mr Cox kindly delivers them. God bless Mr Cox for his activism.

I would suggest that Britain would do itself a great favour if it combines the teachings of Anne Frank with the story of Gaza’s children. At the end of the day, history acquires meaning only when it is put in perspective.

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