I say leave it up. When people are sure Israel is being the unreasonable one, you don't have to say anything, just point to the picture of Sharon cooking babies.

Is this piece representative ? Do you have links to any more ?

The piece above looks stunning. However, I disagree with the piece's message.

Go here for images from the show. Good luck finding anything particularly offensive by any of the other artists (although several of the artists' commentaries can only be described as dumb).

I don't understand the fuss. It's one piece. It may be offensive (are you sure that's a baby by the way?), but so what? Do you suggest this painting (and this painting alone) is going to somehow incite people to violence? Because if you're not, then Maisano is trying to regulate speech solely based on content, which the government should not and cannot do.

(This assumes, as suggested by your post, that westchester county is not paying for the show and is simply providing/renting out space. It also assumes the country regularly rents out space to various groups. Art is speech. The NRA talking about gun rights is speech. A group of gun owners getting together to talk about their gun-owning experience is speech. The display and sale of guns is not.)

By the way, are you suggesting that calling your legislator regarding actions he is taking in an official capacity is somehow illegitimate? Just because it's organized and he's not going to change his mind doesn't somehow make it harassment.

Very mixed thoughts on this.

This is a pretty tasteless attack on Sharon but political speech is protected in the Bill of Rights. If it was a mockery of the core values and beliefs of Judiaism, then taxpayers should not have to fund it (and I have no idea or not if taxpayer dollars go to the County Center). But Sharon is not a religious figure.

Oh but the Christophobes at the ADL will kick and scream about anti-Semitism and how unfair this was. And where was the ADL during the Brooklyn Museum controversy ? Yep, silent. And the ADL supported the removal of Roy Moore for his defense of the ten commandments. Of course when Mel Gibson makes a movie, the Christophobes of the ADL came out in full force.

And gun shows should be permited in the county center.

Alceste, I find a lot of the art to be offensive. Just like the Sharon eating babies picture is anti-Semitic because it not so subtly plays on the neverending Palestinian idiocy in believing that Jews kill Palestinian children to make matzoh, etc., so many of the paintings subtly call for the destruction of Israel. The 'right of return' mentioned in several descriptions of the paintings is another way of saying 'destroy Israel' since there is no way that Israel can absorb the return of these 'refugees' without insuring its own destruction. The box of rocks symbolizing the lack of weapons had by the Palestinians seems kind of funny considering that Palestinians use their own bodies as weapons. Also, the implication that if they did have 'real' weapons, they would surely use them is pretty clear. There are other inciteful themes in the paintings. Several of the pieces play on the idea that Israel 'expelled' the Palestinians when in fact, they left because their fellow Arabs told them that they would go to war with Israel, win, and then the Palestinians could return safely. They made a really stupid calculation. Too bad. Other paintings 'pay homage to the first 13 martyrs in the current uprising, the Al Aqsa Intifada.' Yes, those martyrs are so great, they've caused years of bloodshed. Go them.

I don't think Jew-killing or Israel-destroying is art, sorry. And it should definitely not be promoted by any government agencies. Maisano is getting threatening emails and phone calls because he dare oppose it. No, I don't think it's ok to threaten your legislator if he disagrees with you.

And Von Bek,

Why does the ADL have to be the key spokespeople of Jews? I was against the govt. funding of the Brooklyn museum, not because it had anti-Christian themes but because I thought the art sucked and that they were wasting my money. Forget the ADL. Their role is not to have opinions on everything, just specifically things that affect Jews.

I do not disagree with you at all but I can not deny the importance and visablity of the ADL (not matter how much I loathe them) much as say I can not deny the importance and visability of the NAACP. While I agree with you on what the role of the ADL should be, it is not what their role is.

In general, I do not like public funding of the arts and I am still upset that the current adminstation increased federal funding.

Personally, I do not think this is art. Personally, I think this is Palestinian political propoganda and political mis-information against Israel and the United States. Everyone has seen this pro-Palestinian political propoganda all before. This is nothing new. This is old news.

As for whether or not this is "art" and should be shown in a gallery. I think not. Show me where in the following two museums there is art like this: http://www.moma.org/ and http://www.metmuseum.org/. It all boils down to what one considers to be art. I do not consider propaganda to be art. For example, propaganda cartoons that often accompany war. BUT, many people DO classify propaganda cartoons as art.

I think that this comes down to a judgement on behalf of the Westchester County Center and the decision makers who decide what art gets shown in the Westchester County Center. I DO believe that their judgement will be based on personal beliefs and NOT justifiable by first ammendment particulars.

If Maisano's being threatened, then I agree that's unacceptable. "A phone call campaign to harass him enough to end his opposition to the show" doesn't sound like threats to me though - it sounds like protests (and the only news article I saw in my admittedly 1/2 minute google search doesn't mention any threats).

As for the display of the exhibit itself, I think we see the issue (and the definition of promotion) very differently. It's one thing for the government to sponsor speech, it's another thing altogether for the government to provide a forum for speech on a content-netural basis. (And your detailed response to the artwork suggests to me that the exhibit, even if unworthy of respect or somehow falling short of the definition of art, is certainly the kind of speech worthy of protection.)

Alceste, I don't see how it's the government's role to provide a forum for all speech. The truth is that they certainly would not provide such a forum if it was a showcase of KKK art, or similar. Maisano has forwarded me emails he's gotten. They are definitely threatening.

It's not the role of the government to provide a forum for speech, and I didn't claim that it is. But if the government does choose to provide such a forum (which westchester county appears to have done), then it simply cannot discriminate based on content unless the speech is likely to incite violence (there are more exceptions but this one seems most relevant).

Good art can be propaganda, but not all propaganda is good art. I don't think that artistic quality of this piece is an issue. It expresses an opinion that I find ignorant, twisted, and offensive to anyone who identifies to any degree with Israel. It does attempt to provide justification for anti-Israel violence.

So, while there seems to be a case for shutting the show down, I say, let them talk. Let them tell us how much they hate Israel, and let us hear more and more Leftists join the choir. The more they demonize Israel, the less credibility they will have with sensible people. Let them keep Michal Mooring themselves over and over, while calling us stupid and ignorant. Works for me.

I am the curator of the show and I never said any of the things you put in quotes. Lies. That painting is in a Texas show not our art exhibit in White Plains. Ralph Nader, James Baker and many universities visited that exhibit with NO complaints. We have many dignitaries, Rabbis and countless members working with us to put on our exhibit in White Plains. Please do not fall prey to Zionist media and lies.

I do have legal representation, so when I trace who put that comment down as my words....I plan to follow up. That is illegal and UnAmerican.

At the very least...BE HONEST!
HBK

I'd like to respond by first saying that having attended the art show at the Westchester County Center, this piece on Sharon was not present. This exhibition was entirely justified and in no way incites violence. However, had this piece been present, it still would have rested under the umbrella of freedom of speech and expression. The violence it depicts is that of Ariel Sharon and his government. Unreasonable is it? To the contrary, it illustrates the harsh reality that is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. By this, i mean, first of all that Ariel Sharon has no concern or respect for the lives of Palestinian children, nor does the IDF. Nearly 1,100 Palestinian children have been murdered at the hands of Israeli's since 2000...if you'd like to believe that these children were all "terrorists", enjoy your ignorance. Rachel Corrie was not killed by accident. This young American girl was violated by our dear friend Israel in the most vicious way possible. The Israeli heartlessness and brutality that killed Ms. Corrie is also what killed all these Palestinian children. I will not deny that a select number of Palestinians have the blood of innocent Israeli's on their hands, however, how can this compare to state-sponsored terrorism? that is what the IDF is! Since the beginning of the intifada in 2000, 1,000 Israeli's have been killed in total, while over 4,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 1,100 of whom were children (source: U.S. Congressional Research data) .....if we'd like to discuss propoganda, how is it that the world is so ignorant to these facts. who's propoganda machine is more powerful? And as for the U.S. matches in this picture, here's another piece of news, the U.S. sends an obscene percentage of our tax dollars to Israel every year: nearly $100 BILLION EVERY YEAR...that's $14,000 to every Israeli citizen. What's worse is that this is not subsidized funding....it goes to Israel in the form of a blank check, left for spending at the discretion of the Israeli government. The US offers that form of funding to no other country in the world. Israel is the recipient of more funding than the whole of Africa...how is that justified? Is this at all a balanced conflict .....absolutely not! and i'm so offended by the comments made on this forum. so many of you speak out of sheer ignorance, and i'm sure have yet to question any of what the media relays to you. For that, i am sorry.

O ...to the person responsible for this insightful comment: "Several of the pieces play on the idea that Israel 'expelled' the Palestinians when in fact, they left because their fellow Arabs told them that they would go to war with Israel, win, and then the Palestinians could return safely. They made a really stupid calculation. Too bad." ...you are so pathetically misinformed, i am embarassed for you. It appears that you fail to realize that there is no longer a debate regarding the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 and 1967. They were IN FACT threatened out of thier homes and villages by the thousands, many of them killed and/or raped in the process. There are countless numbers of articles, reports, etc documenting this reality....you speaking out of ignorance does not change that. and were you to take minute to do a bit of research, you'd come to that conclusion on your own.

Haifa, I'd just like to commend you on the exhibit and the obvious effort that went into it. I am so proud that despite all the negative media attention, it was such a success. Hopefully it will help spread awareness about Palestine. Salam

I see no one really has anything to say.....it's tough to refute facts, i know.