UK’s Royal Academy apologizes for teens’ artworks on Gaza war with swastika, genocide claim

A leading British art institution has apologized for displaying works by young artists that appear to equate Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to Nazism, the UK’s Jewish news reports.

One picture was a drawing of women in headscarves, one of them screaming, with a swastika above them.

The 16-year-old artist said he was “inspired by the recent conflict in Gaza” and draws “many parallels with the Nazi’s [sic] and Chinese oppression.”

Another image from the exhibition was a photo of an individual holding a sign saying: “Jews say stop genocide on Palestinians: Not in our name.” Israel has strenuously denied all accusations of genocide.

The artworks were part of an annual exhibition of pieces by British children aged four to 19.

In a statement to the Jewish News, the Royal Academy says that it was aware of concerns about the artworks and had received guidance on the matter.

“We have made the decision to remove these two artworks from display. We apologise for any hurt and distress this has caused to our young artists and to our visitors,” the Royal Academy says in a statement to the UK’s Jewish News.

“We will learn from this experience and we are reviewing our processes, so we can continue to celebrate the creativity of young artists in a safe and responsible way,” the statement says.

However, the newspaper says the Royal Academy is continuing to display in a separate exhibition a piece by member Michael Sandle, entitled “THE MASS SLAUGHTER OF DEFENCELESS WOMEN & CHILDREN IS NOT HOW YOU DERADICALISE GAZA,” depicting a pilot in an Israeli plane. The drawing is also for sale via the academy, with a price tag of £17,000 (approximately $22,000).

The worst thing isn’t that a child learnt to
compare Jews to Nazis because of his parents or others around him.

It’s that @royalacademy judges awarded this with a place in their Summer Show, despite it breaching the internationally adopted definition of antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/ClMuJirVWr

— Alex Hearn (@hearnimator) July 15, 2024