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“Art and culture are spaces to amplify the voice of resistance.”

Interview with Y.H, curators of the exhibition: “I will write our will above the clouds”, on for this weekend in Panke Gallery,

Phil Butland
25/10/2024

Thanks for talking to us. Could you start by introducing yourself? Who are you and what do you do?

I am the co-curator of the exhibition “I Will Write Our Will Above the Clouds,” alongside A.A. We are both members of a Fana’ collective focused on critiquing the prevailing visual culture. Our primary work revolves around publishing the Black Journal, a platform for exploring politics, identity, and the contradictions between them. We mainly collaborate with artists and contributors from the Arab world to maintain a contextual perspective on these issues. This exhibition series is a new initiative created in response to the genocidal war on Gaza.

The exhibition that you’re organising is doing a tour in Europe. Where have you visited so far?

We started the exhibition in Paris, and then we moved it to London. Now we’re in Berlin. We’ll be in Barcelona at the end of next month. Then possibly Milan, Lisbon, and maybe we’ll go back to the Arab world.

What has the reception been like so far?

There was great feedback and a lot of people in Paris. At first, we were working with only 14 artists. Now we have a total of 28. The space was small and quite intimate, and two of the artists were able to come to the exhibition.

In London, we did it in the Mosaic rooms, with big help from a lot of different people. Many people interacted with the art and the artists whether through the talks or directly.

What is the exhibition about?

The exhibition is an attempt to amplify the voices of Gazan artists, and to financially support them and their families in the ethnic cleansing and genocidal war occurring till this day in the Gaza Strip. The idea is to gather the works and art that have been destroyed, bombed or displaced in this war.

This is an exhibition that focuses on the digital archive of art. What is the role of the digital cloud in times of war and such destruction? You will find a lot of artworks in smaller sizes, because we’ve got the pictures from WhatsApp [the app degrades photo quality]. Other artworks are better quality. Some artists have started using digital work only and given up on painting.

The idea of the exhibition is to sell these artworks. Given that some of the original works do not exist anymore, the idea is to price these artworks with the artists in such a way that it will finance them.

A lot of the art that we have is from during or after displacement. One of the artists drew the series when she moved to Cairo. Other artworks are from the COVID era, but they still remain relevant today.

Did Gazan artists have problems before the current genocide?

They were silenced, surveilled and even arrested. It was hard for them to acquire art supplies because of the imposed siege. It was even harder to circulate their artwork outside Gaza for the same reason. Art exported from Gaza was never insured or guaranteed to arrive. The Israelis will most likely confiscate and destroy these artworks so it is always difficult to see what is being created in Gaza.

Is it possible for artists to produce new art in Gaza at the moment?

Some artists are producing and documenting the destruction and daily details of what is happening. In a converstation with artist Mustafa Muhana who produced new work for this exhibition, he mentioned how important it was to create during this time to remind himself of his human side. Same for the artist Basel El Maqousi who we can see on his instagram account, he drew because he want to be reminded of his humanity.

Creating art in these times does not take the same course for everyone, as artists have the space to think creatively and be inspired. I think their processes are different than what we can imagine. Samaa Abu Laban tells us that it is very hard to aquire any type of art supplies and they have to get creative by recycling old paper. There is an urgency to produce, to document and to express, but death occurs every single second around them.

Do you think that art can play a role in resistance?

In these times, art and culture are only meant to amplify the voice of the resistance and the people of Gaza. That is their only role as we see it.

This weekend, you’re exhibiting in Berlin. I’m sure you are aware of the clampdown on culture in Germany, particularly regarding Palestine. Have you had any problems organising the exhibition?

We spoke with more than ten exhibition spaces, none of which offered space for us—except for Panke Culture, where the exhibition will take place. Germany has become a ground for censoring everything related to Palestine. Not only this, but the government is directly funding the genocide. Recently, we saw the German foreign minister justifying the bombing and targeting of refugee shelters in Gaza; she said that this is what Germany stands for.

We had a lot of doubts about coming to Berlin, but we got a lot of calls from our communities here that they want to support, and I really thank Panke for offering the space.

Can artists contribute somehow towards stopping the ongoing genocide?

Any person can, artists or not. The idea is to mobilize and to work on all different platforms in parallel. It’s easy to believe that our fight has no direct influence on this billion dollar genocide, but I think it’s time we gather, rally and organise, first to stop this annihilation and second to rethink our relationship to Western values that have governed this world for such a long time. No longer we can tolerate the hypocrisy and the double standards, Arab, Black and Brown life is valuable and precious and it is time that we unite against the vicious white supremacy and settler colonial mindset that kills our people all around the world.

In the last couple of months, Israel has exported the genocide to Lebanon and also to the West Bank. How is this affecting you personally?

This is not new. This time it’s more violent, televised, documented. It’s ridiculous to watch the genocide on the tv and on your phone, even if you hear it around you. What is happening in the West Bank and Lebanon is part of the same annihilation war on Gaza with different techniques, what started in Gaza now can be seen happening in Beirut, Tulkarem, Jenin and all around the Levant. We are all togther in this, until the occupation ceases to exist.

As you say, this is not new, but it looks like it’s getting worse.

It is already worse. We have crossed the point of no return to the old status quo.

Are you able to stay optimistic about the future?

It’s really very difficult. There is a lack of focus a lot of people I know are sharing. There is no planning for tomorrow, or for after tomorrow, because you really have no idea what’s going to happen. There is crippling anxiety about the future and the present, and the normalisation numbs you, but it’s a way to cope.

But amid all of this, we see a liberated palestine!

To finish off, let’s return to the exhibition. Where is it? When’s it open? How can people visit it?

It’s opening this Thursday in the Panke gallery. You can purchase your tickets online or at the door. Following the launch of the exhibition, we have a series of film screenings in ACUD studio. We have some Palestinian films and some recent films from Gaza. Most are shorts, but not all of them.

Then the exhibition is open on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday we have a finissage with some readings, artists’ talks, and some music at the end.

Can you say more about the readings and the music? What’s being read? What’s being played?

The readings will probably be from a Palestinian poet and a Palestinian writer, all the old words that are still relevant every single day. The music is going to be by a DJ from Palestine who will be playing a set.

For people who can’t make it, is there any other way they can support you and Palestinian artists?

There is a donation box on the ticket website. These donations go directly to Sa7ten in Paris, which is an organisation that we’ve been working with since the start. They are in direct connection with a lot of people in Gaza. They send these funds to Gazans. They cook for a lot of groups in Gaza.

Is there anything else you’d like to talk about that we haven’t covered?

We thank everyone who worked with us along the course of the last three, four months to open it in a bunch of cities. We thank the artists for trusting the process and contributing to this exhibition. We want their life’s work to be seen by all these people.

This series of exhibitions that are happening really made us connect with artists from Gaza, some of whom became really good friends. I hope that one day we will be able to meet face to face.

“I Will Write Our Will Above the Clouds” is a compilation of printed images depicting what were once physical artworks. These images capture the transient and precarious nature of existence in the war-torn landscape of Gaza. The exhibition features the works of twenty four Gazan artists who turned to digital platforms to archive and preserve what might have otherwise been lost. These digital imprints, with their inherent intangibility, mirror the reality of life in Gaza and serve as metaphors for the fragmented memories and disrupted lives of the artists. When pieced together, they create a disjointed but powerful mosaic that challenges traditional forms of exhibitions. “I Will Write Our Will Above the Clouds” invites viewers to experience the oscillation between presence and absence, the real and the virtual. The works confront viewers with the raw and unfiltered realities of the artists’ experiences, pushing the boundaries of digital expression.

Adel Al-Taweel, Abod Nasser, Adam Mghari, Amal El Nakhala, Bayan Abu Nahla, Hassan El-Zaneen, Jehad Jarbou, Kenan Aburok, Khaled Jarada, Mahmoud Al Haj, Marwan Nassar, Maisra Baroud, Mohammed Al Haj, Mona Jouda, Mustafa Mohanna, Samaa Abu Allaban, Shereen Abedalkareem, Walaa Shublaq, Yara Zude.

Another State Murder in the USA

The Death Penalty in the USA is unreliable and racially biased

John Alexander
23/10/2024

Marcellus Williams was executed by the State of Missouri on the 24th of September 2024, for the 2001 murder of Felicia Gayle. As with many executions in the states, this comes at the end of a long time served on death row – almost 24 years, and a long process of appeals.

At the time of his execution, a petition calling for the release of Williams hosted on Change.org held upwards of 600,000 signatures. Williams’ advocates point to the state’s mishandling of evidence: questions about DNA evidence found on the knife used in the murder stayed his execution in 2017 due to its inconclusive result. According to an evidentiary hearing, the tests were contaminated by officials on the persecuting team handling the knife without gloves prior to a hearing in 2001.

With evidence that could be exonerating being ruined by the state, one would expect clemency. Indeed, the Innocence Project reached an agreement with the ruling judge and Gayle’s family to convert his sentence to life in prison. This agreement was challenged by the Attorney General’s office, and the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the agreement.

The United States Supreme Court also rejected a last minute appeal based on racial bias during the original trial. Marcellus is black, and the jury pool that convicted him had only 1 black member. Six had been struck from the pool, including one that the prosecutor for the case described as looking “like Marcellus’s brother”.

Williams was not the only execution that week. Between the 20th and the 26th of September, Freddie Owens, Travis Mullis, Alan Eugene Miller and Emmanuel Littlejohn were also executed in the United States. Five in less than a week, the first time this has happened since 2003. Of the executions, only Mullis and Miller were white.

This week raises the question: are executions in the United States becoming more common?

According to legal experts interviewed by Associated Press, no. Each state followed their own procedures and happened to schedule the executions within the same one-week span. This is true. Most of the victims (except for Mullis) had tried to appeal through the system several times and failed to change the verdicts.

This answer focuses on the functioning of the courts themselves, an understandable response from someone working within the system. However, focusing on the bureaucratic machinations of the system functions to obfuscate the human cost tied to the death statistics. The story of each execution provides some insight here.

Emmanuel Littlejohn was executed for his alleged role in a convenience store robbery in 1992. He also had a questionable court proceeding. There was no forensic evidence to link him to the crime, only the testimony of a witness. He confessed to being present during the robbery, however the court was not able to establish whether he pulled the trigger. In spite of this, the prosecutor argued that involvement with the robbery made him equally guilty.

Travis Mullis was executed swiftly as he was a “volunteer”- after the killing of his 3-month-old son he waived all appeals and pushed for his own swift execution.

For Alan Eugene Miller, this was not the first time his execution was attempted. In 2022, Alabama attempted lethal injection on him. After being unable to find an appropriate vein, they hung him upside down to increase blood flow. “Mr Miller was deeply disturbed by state employees silently staring at him while he was hanging vertically from the gurney,” quotes his attorney. His eventual execution was by an experimental technique using suffocation by nitrogen, which has only been performed once before.

In Freddie Williams’ case, the racial element is clear. Critics have decried the fact that of the jury pool, 6 of a potential 7 black jurors were rejected, allegedly partially on racial grounds.

These five cases give an undeniable impression of both the cruelty and racial bias involved in these proceedings. Further, there is an undeniably political aspect to this; the states that carried out the executions (and more generally those that still use the death penalty) are all Southern states, with Republican leanings. Indeed, the Missouri Supreme Court, instrumental in the Williams case, is stacked with pro-Trump judges.

Support for the death penalty is deeply rooted within the American conscience. Supporters have myriad reasons: it is cheaper and safer for society, it deters people from perpetrating the most heinous of crimes, and it avenges the loved ones of victims, providing them with appropriate closure.

It is perhaps this last point which is the most salient; an eye for an eye is an appealing concept, particularly for people who feel that society needs to become tougher & harsher (beliefs that correlate strongly with right-wing politics) and those who either believe that the justice system is a good determinant of truth or feel disconnected from the outcomes of the system. As this element is already embedded in the culture, and as sentiment shifts to the right in the States, it is easy for political actors to appeal to this idea, especially in place of actual policy.

Judges in these states are twice as likely to approve a death sentence if they are running for election that year. The federal government in the United States has the capacity to execute prisoners, however these executions have only happened under two presidents: under Bush 3 executions, and under Trump a shocking 20, all in his last 6 months in office.

While the Republicans represent this tendency in the strongest sense, the Democrats are not immune to it; notably the current Democratic platform is the first one since 2012 to not include opposition to the death penalty. It has been quietly dropped, fitting well with the marketing of the campaign as “a prosecutor versus a convicted felon” and particularly with the recent desire to “reach across the aisle”, although it being dropped pre-dates this shift.

News from Berlin and Germany, 23rd October 2024

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany

The Left Berlin

NEWS FROM BERLIN

CDU wants to put Berlin’s Left Party under surveillance

The CDU in Neukölln considers that parts of the Berlin Left Party should be monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution due to purported Israel hate and antisemitism. The Left Party had already been monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution for several years in the past. The current trigger was a report in the Tagesspiegel: the newspaper showed how closely the Neukölln left-wingers are interwoven with the pro-Palestinian movement. In addition, the district association openly sympathises with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Source: bz

Berlin’s cultural scene defends itself with actions against cost-cutting plans

Berlin’s cultural scene organised a day of action last Wednesday to warn of impending budget cuts and their dramatic consequences. Numerous institutions – including theatres, museums and libraries – expressed their protest with red and white fluttering tape, banners or interrupted performances under the motto #BerlinIstKultur. The Deutsche Theater, the Volksbühne, the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin (ZLB), the Berliner Ensemble, the Schaubühne, the Deutsches Technikmuseum and the Friedrichstadtpalast, among others, took part in the day of action, by cancelling performances or showing empty shelves outside public libraries. Source: rbb24

Finally online Anmeldung in Berlin

Anyone who has moved to Berlin is familiar with the struggle of getting an appointment at the Bürgeramt in time to meet the two-week deadline for the address registration. The newly introduced online process, however, is about to change that. Since last week, e-registration has been available. With more than 500,000 applications each year, registering a new apartment is one of the most frequently used administrative services offered by the German capital. The new online service is free of charge and only requires a user account and an online ID card. Source: theberliner

Cycle path dispute in Berlin escalates

Hundreds of residents in Berlin’s Kantstraße are threatened with losing their homes. The background to this is a long-running conflict over the pop-up cycle path, which was installed in 2020. Christoph Brzezinski (CDU), the district councillor for Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, announced that the building inspectorate would begin delivering letters announcing a ban on use from 1 November. All residents from the third floor upwards will be affected. The reason: the current division of the road is obstructing the fire brigade. The parking lane between the cycle lane and the carriageway means that ladders cannot be set up safely in an emergency. Source: welt

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Boost in arms export licences to Israel

In the past eight weeks, the German government has authorised arms exports worth around 31 million euros for Israel. This is more than twice as much as in the first seven and a half months of the year. It is unclear whether the authorised goods include weapons of war. The Ministry does not provide any information on this, citing the confidentiality of decisions made by the Federal Security Council. The report does mention categories of goods including ammunition, bombs and warships. However, instead of licenses for arms deliveries, these may also be licenses for the delivery of spare parts. Source: msn

U-turn in German policy towards Turkey

Arms exports to Turkey have long been a taboo subject for the German government. But when Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) appeared before the press last Saturday together with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, he acted as if such concerns had never existed. “Turkey is a member of NATO, and that’s why we always make decisions that result in concrete deliveries,” he said at the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. The Turkish newspaper Yeni Şafak reported that a team from the consortium that manufactures the Typhoon Eurofighter arrived in Turkey for around three weeks of technical talks. Source: faz

Germany inaugurates new NATO HQ on the Baltic Sea

Germany launched a new multinational naval tactical headquarters in Rostock. From there, the Command Task Force (CTF) Baltic headquarters will coordinate naval activities for all NATO allies on the Baltic Sea. There is an existing command staff at the Rostock Naval Command, which already works together with various countries but will in the future perform additional tasks for NATO according to the German Ministry of Defense, Boris Pistorius (SPD). The facility’s establishment underlines the importance of the Baltic Sea for NATO after relations with Russia worsened following the Ukraine war. Source: dw

At the centre of the shitstorm

A week ago, the Israeli army bombed a tent city on the grounds of a hospital in the centre of Gaza. Images of patients burning to death in their beds went around the world. The US organisation Jewish Voice for Peace shared a picture of this horrific scene on social media with the polemical comment: “This is Zionism.” SPD politician Aydan Özoğuz subsequently shared this post on Instagram. Since then, she has been at the centre of a storm of outrage that refuses to die down, despite calls for her resignation from the CDU/CSU, the FDP and the Bild newspaper. Source: taz

3ezwa

An association for justice in Germany and freedom in Palestine

The Left Berlin

On 22 October 3ezwa, a new association for justice in Germany and freedom in Palestine, was launched.

Founded by a coalition of activists and groups unified in solidarity with the people of Palestine, 3ezwa’s focus will be to provide financial and legal support to those who experience repression for their commitment to the Palestinian cause.

Since long before 7 October 2023, German authorities have pursued a policy of repression to intimidate the pro-Palestine movement, threaten migrant communities, and silence all forms of dissent against Germany’s pro-Israel Staatsraison (reason of state).

3ezwa is an association born from the Berlin Legal Fund, a fundraising campaign established in October 2023 to provide financial support for pro-Palestine activists criminalised by the German state. Since October, the Berlin Legal Fund has raised €90,000 and worked alongside groups like the ELSC (European Legal Support Center), Rote Hilfe and KOP (Campaign for Victims of Racist Police Violence) to develop a legal support network for protesters.

3ezwa will expand on the work started by the Berlin Legal Fund, becoming the centre of a network of organisations across Germany. 3ezwa’s primary purpose will be to raise funds, support existing legal support structures, streamline the process of getting legal support, and provide free and easy-to-access advice to anyone facing repression for their solidarity with Palestine.

By becoming an officially registered association, 3ezwa will be able to operate with greater transparency and make decisions democratically through an annual general assembly open to all members. Through membership fees based on a sliding scale, 3ezwa will be able to generate more funds, support more criminalised individuals, and expand its support network across Germany. From its new official home at Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte (Greifswalderstr. 4, 10405 Berlin) 3ezwa will immediately offer walk-in sessions every Thursday and provide free counselling to those who need it.

The name 3ezwa (عزوة) refers to a close-knit group or community to which an individual is deeply connected. When someone speaks of their 3ezwa, they refer to the family, friends and allies who will stand by them, provide protection, and support them through any challenges. 3ezwa embodies collective strength, solidarity and the reassurance that you are not alone.

Together, with the support of allied groups across the country, 3ezwa’s goal is to strengthen the fundamental human rights under attack in Germany and to fight for the right to live in freedom and dignity in the entire territory of historic Palestine.

Irish Bloc Berlin Manifesto

Manifesto to explain what the @IrishBlocBerlin is about

The Left Berlin
19/10/2024

The Irish Bloc Berlin unequivocally condemns the apartheid state of Israel for the systematic oppression and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Palestine over the last seventy-six years. The ongoing genocide in Gaza since October 2023 demands urgent, unwavering international support for Palestinian liberation. There can never be peace without justice and liberation of Palestinians from the systems of oppression and ethnic cleansing that Israel, in its current form, imposes. We strive to do our part in bringing about a future of peace and equal rights for all the people, and peoples, between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.

Why We Have Come Together

Irish Bloc Berlin was formed in February 2024 by Irish activists in Berlin, who felt an urgent need for a proactive community to resist the injustices faced by Palestinians in Germany and in Palestine. Today, we exist as an expanded group, open to anyone from any nationality or cultural background who feels alienated and enraged by the prevailing German attitude to Zionism and Germany’s apologism for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. The raisons d’être of the Irish Bloc are anchored in unique circumstances:

Solidarity with Palestine: We stand forever with the people of Palestine, who have endured unimaginable and relentless brutality at the hands of colonialist forces over the past century.
Germany’s Role: Germany, our home, aids the mass slaughter of Palestinians, perverts the course of international justice by interfering with attempts to hold Israel accountable for its systematic crimes against humanity, weaponises bad-faith accusations of antisemitism to silence voices speaking out against its complicity in genocide, and is taking increasingly extreme and shocking measures to suppress acts of solidarity on its own soil.
Irish Solidarity: Our own experience of colonial violence, occupation, suppression of civil and human rights, famine, and genocide in Ireland primes us to empathise with those experiencing colonialism, occupation, and oppression.

Our Mission and Goals

Whether through outreach, demonstrations, or fundraising, using our tools as citizens to resist oppression and the abetting of genocide is a fundamental obligation. The systematic attacks on Palestinians and allies by German police, along with the often brutal and invariably unconstitutional silencing of pro-Palestinian voices, are clear evidence of Germany’s alarming slide into authoritarianism, and must not be ignored.

Community Building: Building connections within the Irish community in Berlin, and between this community and other groups, to show solidarity and find strength in numbers.
Raising Awareness: Promoting awareness of the genocide in Gaza and injustices throughout historic Palestine.
Fundraising: Raising funds to support Palestinian causes.
Advocacy: Advocating for a democratic, egalitarian, and peaceful future for all people between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Our Actions

We support the right to resistance and self-determination and strive for an anti-colonial world free from exploitation. We stand in solidarity with all people fighting imperialism.

Protest Action:
- Demonstration of Solidarity: Forming blocs during protests to express international solidarity for Palestinian rights.
- Legal Information: Sharing resources on legal guidance, especially concerning protest-related issues.
Diplomatic Pressure:
- Public Statements: Clarifying our stances and actions.
- Advocacy and Pressure: Pressuring the Irish Embassy to speak out, in support of Palestine and against German repression of Palestinian advocacy.
- Lobbying: Pressuring the Irish government at home to take action on injustice in Palestine (especially regarding the Occupied Territories Bill, Illegal Israel Settlements Divestment Bill, and Arms Embargo Bill) as well as on the persecution of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian people in Germany.
Media Outreach: Using our network of media contacts to draw attention to the stultifying atmosphere and extreme repression against Palestinians and their allies here in Germany; contributing interviews and appearances on television and radio as well as journalistic pieces to achieve this aim.
BDS Action:
- Legal Guidance: Gathering advice on legal implications of BDS participation in Germany.
- Direct Action: Active participation in boycotts of products associated with the occupation, which in many cases have proved successful.
Cultural Exchange: Hosting events that combine or exchange Irish and Palestinian culture to foster further mutual understanding and solidarity.

Our Call to Action

Irish Bloc Berlin stands as a forum for our collective refusal to comply with the authoritarianism and ongoing injustice in Germany. We support struggles against imperialism and stand behind anyone resisting injustice.

By supporting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, we aim to enforce an end to genocidal occupation and apartheid in Palestine, and pressure Israel to comply with international law and uphold Palestinian rights and dignity, including the Right to Return.

We connect with individuals and organisations that share our vision for justice and liberation. Inspired by the Dunnes Stores strikers of 1980s Ireland, by Bernadette Devlin, and by many other anti-racist, anti-colonial Irish solidarity movements from throughout history, we draw strength from a legacy of Irish activism for international solidarity.