It’s not uncommon in the Middle East to see Israelis characterized as animals. Little Green Footballs pointed out one example where a new children’s clamation film has Jews turning into monkeys and pigs.
But, Palestinians didn’t like seeing a chimp dressed up like Arafat in a Moscow art exhibit in December.
The Moscow gallery owner responded saying that politicians should not tell artists what to do, especially if they are artists living in another country. And besides, the painting was not titled Arafat, but was named after the monkey.
The embassy of the Palestinian Territories’ in Moscow has complained about latest exploit of a controversial Russian arts gallery that has exhibited a portrait of a monkey dressed as the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the Newsru.com web-site reported on Tuesday.
In a letter sent to the gallery owner Marat Guelman the Palestinian diplomats voiced regret over the unethical attitude of the artist, whose name was reported as Ilya Chichkan, towards the late president of the Palestinian National Autonomy and Nobel Prize winner.
The gallery owner responded by saying that politicians should not tell artists what to do, especially if they are artists living in another country. He said that the painting was not titled Arafat but called by the name of the monkey that was used as the model for the artist.
This was previously reported back in December.
There have been no recorded protests or rioting in Gaza since the chimp art exhibit. There has also been no burning of the Russian flag and no calls to boycott vodka because of the incident.
Update: The Arafat exhibit has run its course but there is a new Dracula Exhibit that just opened.
Mark Steyn writes about radical Muslim reaction to the mustached blowup doll sold in London.
