For anyone who cares about their fellow human beings in Gaza, nothing is more important at this moment than to speak out.

Israel and its allies are trying to build a wall of silence around their devastation of Gaza.  Around the world, those who seek to break through it are having to contend with an extraordinary and shameful campaign of pressure and threats. No-one who speaks out, from the UN Secretary-General  to a London tube-driver, is exempt. 

Yet the breakthrough has happened. In every sector of society people horrified by the attack on Gaza are speaking out. The huge demonstrations in the major cities of the world reflect the strength of public feeling.

Among cultural workers, we have seen an outpouring of solidarity, and resistance to attempts to undermine it. Here are just a few examples, from Britain and the US. 

1.
Thousands of visual artists and curators signed an open letter published in Artforum magazine that expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza. A behind the scenes campaign by a number of powerful art dealers and collectors aimed to pressure individual artists to retract. A week later, the magazine’s owners fired its editor, David Velasco. 

“I resent these cowardly bullying and blackmail campaigns to distract everyone in the art world from the central demand of the letter, which was: cease-fire!”