Artists protest closure by questionably using noose image

The protesters were either unaware of or decided to ignore the revived connotations the noose has in the current racial struggles taking place in the United States.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, JTA
A drawing of a music note being strangled by a noose (photo credit: Courtesy)
A drawing of a music note being strangled by a noose
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The artistic community in Israel has been feeling the weight of being out of work throughout the coronavirus-spurred shutdown and this week’s return to the closure of clubs and theaters.
On Monday, the government approved the shutdown of event halls and other culture venues, raising the ire of the culture industry, which has called on the government to provide financial aid to the industry similar to aid provided to other businesses.
On Tuesday, throughout social media, artists and out-of-work support staff in the entertainment industry launched a campaign by illustrating their plight with a drawing of a music note being strangled by a noose, to emphasize how they are being choked by the government regulations and how culture is dying because of the coronavirus restrictions.
The backlash was swift, with commentators expressing surprise at the tone deafness of the protesters, who were either unaware of or decided to ignore the revived connotations the noose has in the current racial struggles taking place in the United States.
A number of black people have been found hung over the last month, raising the specter of the lynchings of blacks by the Ku Klux Klan and their followers in the 20th century. In another incident, late last month, a noose was found in the garage of NASCAR’s only black driver Bubba Wallace.
Eurovision star Netta Barzilai was one of the high-profile Israeli entertainers who posted the noose symbol on her Instagram account on Monday. But she removed it the following day and issued an apology.
 “A lot of people were triggered and offended by the logo, and I obviously didn’t want that,” she wrote in place of the image on Instagram.
Barzilai went on to write: “This is serious. The culture industry in Israel is being shut down because of corona. There is no real financial support for music industry workers … and many of my friends and colleagues here won’t be able to support themselves soon. A lot of them have mortgages to pay and children to feed.”
The singer later posted a video on her story in which she apologized for worrying her followers.
“I am ok, although a lot of my friends are not,” she wrote, condemning the Israeli government for “not supporting anyone financially.” She added: “Culture is dying. We have to do something and we have to be vocal about it.”


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