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Most-Censored Art
During
my twenty-seven years of poster-making, no piece that I
have created has been censored more than Stop US Aid to
Israel. When I made the poster in 1988, it was displayed
restaurants, grocery stores and bakeries all over
Berkeley. Within two weeks from the time of posting, all
the posters had been removed. The merchants were told,
in no uncertain terms, by Israeli supporters “show this
poster here and your business will suffer.” Over the
years, I have continued to exhibit the piece with
similar censorship results. As an end run around the
censorship wall, I have set up this, free, share the
commons web site and I exhibit the poster weekly on the
street in Berkeley. Though it has been stolen twice,
thrown in a trashcan and spit on, the majority of its
viewers indicate solidarity with its endorsers. And it
continues to stop more people on the street than any
other of my posters.
Bellow is a letter written in response to a critic who
attempted to persuade the director of La Pena Cultural
Center to remove my Stop US Aid to Israel poster from
display. The cultural director was not influenced by the
complaint letter and allowed me to respond personally.
Dear Mr./Ms. Distracter,
Your complaint to the cultural center has been
referred to me for my response. I am the artist who
created the poster you would like removed. Your
statement that I depicted an Israeli soldier with
racial features typical of anti-Semitic Cartoons
seems to be an attempt by you to distract people
from the message of my poster, that is, to stop the
U.S. government from giving 11 million dollars a day
to Israel. By attacking me, the artist, “as racist”
you are attempting to remove the issue of U.S. aid
and the illegality of Israel’s occupation from
public debate. Your observation that I have depicted
an Israeli soldier in an unbecoming and unflattering
way is accurate, but this is not proof that I am an
anti-Semite as you claim. It is only proof that I
despise the unjust, often murderous, practices of
Israel. I have used the same abstract visual
depictions when attacking U.S. police corruption,
Contras in Nicaragua, capitalist pigs and the
Apartheid regime in South Africa. Are we to have
special art rules for Israeli villains? Be assured
my intentions are not to fuel anti-Semitism. I am a
vocal advocate for equality. Unfortunately, Israel’s
discriminatory practices and military aggression
against non-Jews makes my job increasingly
difficult.
Doug Minkler 1990
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