The Museum on the Seam: Healing Jerusalem’s divides one exhibition at a time

By: Nick Lieber, Editorial Associate and Analyst, Creative Community For Peace

There is no shortage of creative and innovative projects working to build bridges between Israelis and Palestinians. For example, the Jerusalem YMCA Youth Choir brings people together through music; the Peres Center for Peace does so through sport; and the Museum on the Seam — which CCFP recently visited — uses socio-political contemporary art.

The Museum on the Seam is built — as its name attests — in an area referred to as “the seam,” which is an invisible line running through Jerusalem where the eastern side of the city, primarily populated by Palestinian Muslims, meets the western side, which is primarily populated by Israeli Jews.

After decades of national conflict, these places where Israelis and Palestinians intermingle can be places of tension and discord, and sometimes even violence. Some, however — including Raphie Etgar, the founder and chief curator of the Museum on the Seam — have seen their potential as places for nurturing togetherness and understanding.

The building the museum is housed in was formerly a military outpost stationed on the ceasefire line between Israel and Jordan, when the two countries controlled different parts of the city. Now, it houses socio-political contemporary art museum committed, in its own words, to “advancing dialogue in the face of discord and to encouraging social responsibility that is based on what we all have in common, rather than what keeps us apart.”

“This country bears so many conflicts and disagreements, every day, again and again,” Mr. Etgar told us. “Many good people in this country are trying their best to make a change and bring peace and common sense, or at least reduce the conflicts. This museum specifically, I thought to myself, would do the same thing but in a different way, and that is through art.”

For many years now, that is exactly what the museum has done; bridge gaps by facilitating dialogue and discussion through art exhibitions focusing on the social and political issues of the day. They don’t focus only on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also on the various other conflicts present within Israeli society.

Their current exhibition, called “Thou Shalt Not,” examines the intersection between religion, which is often rooted in tradition and a disinclination toward change, and contemporary art, which serves as a mirror reflecting the rapidly changing times. The exhibit features works by 30 artists, half of whom are religious and half of whom are secular.

These photos by Israeli artist Adi Nes adapt biblical stories to our time and turn them into a social message. The left is inspired by the story of Abraham and Isaac, and the right is inspired by Hagar.

“We don’t think that our exhibitions are right or wrong, because this is not the point. The point is to put things on stage and let people discuss it. The discussion is the most important thing, because the discussion — if people do it the right way — brings them closer,” Mr. Etgar said. “The museum is here to let people meet, and maybe this is the way they will agree. If not on everything, then on something. And that is quite enough.”

In the past, their exhibitions have facilitated discussion on the problem of violence within Israeli society, the interaction between humans and nature, issues of discrimination, exploitation, and humiliation, and much more.

One of their most popular exhibitions, called “Coexistence,” was designed to bring a positive message of diversity and acceptance to the world community. It features works created by artists from all over the world and is still traveling to various locations, now having visited more than 30 cities.

As Mr. Etgar sees it, one of the most important things these exhibitions have demonstrated is that people, even those who would consider themselves enemies, are more closely connected than they might think.

“There’s always part of ‘the other’ in ourselves,” he said. “If you take the time to think about it, you’ll realize that even your enemy has some part in you. It might be the part that upsets you, makes you angry, makes you concerned, but this is the part that’s in you. It’s part of you and there’s nothing you can do about it. I believe that we don’t think completely isolated from all these parts that are included in us.”

At CCFP, we applaud the work that is being done to build bridges through art at the Museum on the Seam, and look forward to a more peaceful future.

Surely, everybody is familiar with the phrase “The pot calling the kettle black.” Unfortunately it’s what comes to mind when reading Roger Waters’ 9/17/17 piece in The New York Times entitled “Congress Shouldn’t Silence Human Rights Advocates.”

In it, Waters attacks efforts to combat the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign, describing them as a form of censorship while continuing his irresponsible use of incendiary terms like ‘McCarthyite’, ‘blacklisting’ and ‘authoritarian. As an outspoken supporter of the most egregious aspects – and actions – of the BDS movement, Waters has no business taking a moral stand on free speech.

BDS is a campaign whose primary weapon is censorship, and whose activists put considerable energy into silencing Israeli artists, as well as international artists who schedule shows in, express support for, or even simply visit Israel:

In October 2014, during a French festival screening of the Israeli documentary “Dancing in Jaffa”, twenty BDS activists threw stink bombs into the audience while screaming anti-Israel epithets. Rather than accepting the Israeli’s director’s invitation to stay and engage in actual dialogue, they had to be forcibly removed. Fearing for her safety, the directorof the film – about Pierre Dulane’s efforts to bringJewish and Arab children together through ballroom dance – was escorted back to her hotel by French police.

In August 2015, American Jewish singer Matisyahuwas disinvited from the Rototom Sunsplash music festival in Spain after he refused to bow to demands by BDS activists that he — and only he — agree to certain political positions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “The festival kept insisting that I clarify my personal views,” Matisyahu said in a statement, “which felt like clear pressure to agree with the BDS political agenda. Honestly it was appalling and offensive that, as the one publicly Jewish-American artist scheduled for the festival,they were trying to coerce me into political statements.”

BDS activists have sent death threats to artists scheduled to perform in Israel, including Salif Keita and Paul McCartney. They – along with The Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Santana, Elton John, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Rod Stewart, Madonna, Guns N’ Roses, Regina Spektor, Chainsmokers, Pixies andRihanna instead enthusiastically performed in defiance of BDS demands that they cancel their tours. “We’ve played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments,” Radiohead’s Thom Yorke said in a statement, “some more liberal than others. As we have in America. We don’t endorse [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America.”

BDS activists continue to urge governments to ban films made by or starring Israelis. This past summer, a BDS campaign contributed to Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and Algeria all banning the international blockbuster Wonder Woman due to the leading role of “Zionist” actress Gal Gadot.

It’s easy to try to dismiss these incidents as outliers, but to do so would be disingenuous. On a daily basis, BDS barrages international artists with misinformation in an effort to pressure them to cancel their shows in Israel, and attempts to smear their reputation when they refuse. They bully and threaten Palestinians who want to cooperate and engage in dialogue with Israelis. BDS is committed to silencing Israelis and isolating Israel, to show the world a black and white narrative where only one side – the anti-Israel side – is represented.

In other words, BDS activists such as Roger Waters –supporters of a movement that calculatedly tramples on freedom of expression – should not be taking a moral stand on free speech while simultaneously orchestrating campaigns to destroy it. This is hypocrisy at its most blatant and dangerous. Despite Mr. Waters’ attempts to characterize BDS as ‘human rights activists’, it hasbecome increasingly clear that they are instead a band of bullies aimed at dismantling Israel. In fact, BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti has said, “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine,” referring to all of Israel. He reiterated that if all of BDS’ demands were met, “You would have a Palestine next to a Palestine, rather than a Palestine next to Israel.”

Finally, Waters blasts the Anti-Boycott Act as ‘serious lawfare’, insists it threatens ‘all those who believe in universal human rights and the First Amendment,’ and histrionically rails that it promises felony arrests ‘from archbishops to altar boys’. This is taking fear mongering to a whole new level. The fact is that existing federal law has long banned participation in boycotts of friendly nations, and that there is zero language in the current Act that would forbid anti-Israel activists from ever expressing support for boycotts. Waters also ignores that more than 20 states have already enacted laws or executive orders banning state business with companies that support BDS, not to mention the international anti-BDS trade legislation signed into law by President Obama in 2015.

We at Creative Community For Peace (CCFP) – and our colleagues throughout the entertainment industry who believe in the power of the arts to further peace –continue to hope that Roger Waters will reconsider this campaign of destructive misinformation and damaging rhetoric. Rather than demonizing colleagues and demanding prejudicial boycotts, we invite him to instead use his considerable voice and join us in building bridges between Israelis and Palestinians.

Read the full article in JPost.