Arts and cultural workers staged a sit-in at London’s Tate Modern on Nov 26, to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Dozens of demonstrators gathered in the museum’s Turbine Hall to show their solidarity with the Palestinian community and to pressure the institution to join the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. The action came during the second half of a temporary ceasefire between the Israeli military and Hamas fighters that allowed for several exchanges of Israeli hostages and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons over the weekend.
Featuring poetry readings, statements, collective chants, and musical performances, the demonstration was both a protest of Israel’s occupation of Palestine and a vigil for the estimated 14,800 Palestinians who have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israel’s bombardment since Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis on October 7. The demonstrators displayed Palestinian flags and banners from the museum’s second level to draw attention to the ongoing destruction of Palestinian cultural organizations in Gaza and the West Bank, which organizers referred to as “a means of control, a means of depriving people of self-knowledge, identity, and history.” The organizers further called out the silencing of cultural workers who have vocalized pro-Palestine views.
“Public spaces should be free of intimidation, harassment, and professional persecution for political views in support of Palestinian life and liberation,” the organizers said in a statement, adding that “artists and arts workers do not exist in a void and refuse to be complicit in the position of the UK government.”
