German Town Shuts Palestinian Children’s Exhibition
The Palestinian exhibition portraying life and destruction in Gaza was canceled by authorities in the German town of Heidelberg over "crossing a political red line.” The organizers have expressed fury about the move.
It was canceled shortly before it was due to start on August 10, RNZ newspaper reported.
Titled"Experiences, Fears and Dreams – Children in Palestine," the event was to host drawings from two rehabilitation centers based in Gaza and Ramallah. Some of the pieces showed explosions, burning cities and soldiers with assault rifles. A pro-Palestinian group "Palästina-/Nahost-Initiative” put the pictures up on August 5 but after attending the center the week after discovered that the pictures were taken down.
Agnes Bennhold, representing the groups, said she was "outraged” by the move, given that the organization did not receive any written statement with the reasons for the cancellation. On request of the RNZ, the Heidelberg’s authorities admitted that the cancellation was due to "political" concerns.
"The exhibition included statements regarding the Middle East conflict, which the city is not sharing. Since the city is committed to neutrality, staging an exhibition with such a highly political content in the city’s accommodations was not possible," the city stated to the media outlet. Furthermore, the clarification for the cancellation was issued on August 12.
"A red line was crossed as one of the pictures contained the words in Arabic: Jihad, Freedom, Jerusalem, Arabic, Yes,” the city’s spokesperson said as quoted by RNZ. The official added that the words were also translated into German.
The word jihad is misunderstood and in mainstream media it is tied to terrorist organizations, however its exact translation reads as"striving for something."
For the majority of Muslims around the world, it is viewed as a way to reform oneself and improve themselves.
Source: RT
