Saw Gallery Offers a Respite for Anti-Israel Protesters
Prominent Ottawa Art Site Director echoes extremist rhetoric
As promised on Friday we are working on the second installment of the long article on Special Rapporteurs. Insh’Allah, the article will be ready tomorrow.
Today we’re delighted to offer a guest article by our good friend Fred Litwin. Fred is an author, film festival organizer, music producer, activist, and valued volunteer in our kehillah. Today he brings us an important report on the questionable role of the Saw Gallery, a publicly supported arts institution in Ottawa, in promoting stridently anti-Israel activities, since Hamas invaded Israel and committed crimes against humanity on October 7. DR
If you’ve ever spent a couple of hours screaming, “from the river to the sea,” you know that your parched throat needs rejuvenation for the next action. And protesters can thank God that, in downtown Ottawa, the Saw Gallery stands ready to help them out.
On March 9, 2024, there was a massive anti-Israel rally in Ottawa which made its way down Elgin Street to Parliament Hill. One of the speakers at the rally was Charlotte Kates, co-founder of the Samidoun Prisoner Solidarity Network, a Canadian-headquartered group that has been banned in Germany and Israel. Samidoun is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an organization that is listed as a banned terrorist organization in Canada, the United States, the EU, Australia, and Japan.
Here is what she told the crowd:
What we saw on the seventh of October, and what we continue to see every day since, is the amazing bravery and resilience and resistance of the Palestinian people to take every step necessary to liberate every Palestinian prisoner from the jails of the Zionist regime.
Stefan St-Laurent, past curator and now Artistic Associate of the Saw Gallery, posted the following on Facebook:
Screen Capture from Stefan St. Laurent: Public Post on Facebook — Source: Fred Litwin
I decided to write to the officers of the Saw Gallery, and I asked them these questions:
Offering free refreshments to people who celebrate October 7th? How on earth do you justify this? As an organization who receives grants from the federal, provincial and municipal governments, how can the Saw Gallery openly side with people who openly call for "intifada revolution"?
I do hope that the funders of the Saw Gallery are aware of your activities in support of October 7th.
In 2022, the Saw Gallery received $470,000 from the federal government, $183,535 from the Provincial government, and $143,755 from municipal governments. That’s about two-thirds of its total revenues. The last thing I want is tax dollars being spent to refresh haters of Israel.
For several days there was silence, and I resent my email to Jason St-Laurent, the current curator of the Saw Gallery. Finally, he responded:
An organization called Debaser which is based in the same arts complex as SAW organized refreshments for protesters in our outdoor courtyard which is made available to all Arts Court tenants for their various programming activities. SAW had no official role in this event and did not contribute any funding or resources.
Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Hey, it’s not us. I emailed the officers of Debaser and I have yet to receive a reply. Debaser describes themselves as “one of Ottawa’s leading independent and underground music and arts presenters, best known for its thoughtfully-curated, diverse programming, and care-oriented approach.”
By the way, Debaser is looking for new board members, and you have up to April 12th to submit your application:
Debaser encourages applicants from groups that are historically and currently identified as targets of oppression, including Black, Indigenous, people of colour, 2SLGBTQIA, disabled folks and women. We recognize that in Canada, legacies of oppression are perpetuated through, among other things, hiring and recruitment practices. We strive to participate in restorative justice by implementing socially just recruitment practices that counter these pressures. Applicants are welcome to voluntarily self-identify as a member of one of these groups.
Last week I received a reply from Stefan St-Laurent:
I thank you for sharing your concerns regarding a post I made on my personal Facebook feed. The gathering in the courtyard was organized by Pique and volunteers brought refreshments for other volunteers and protesters. No public funds were used for this activity. The SAW courtyard is a public space adjacent to Arts Court, where everyone is welcome to meet and gather.
I wish for peace for everyone in Israel and Palestine. I am a staunch defender of human rights, and strongly believe Jewish peoples all over the world should be fully protected from anti-semitism and hate. I do not in any way agree with the statements made by Charlotte Kates at the offsite protest. I was as appalled as you at the terrorist attack on October 7, but it does not justify Israel retaliating by killing tens of thousands of civilians, destroying entire cities and stealing even more land.
I do not bow down to any form of intimidation, including any insinuation that my support of human rights is anti-semitic. Palestinians deserve the same rights as Israelis. Stop the land theft, the genocide, the bombing of hospitals, the starvation of human beings, the murder of thousands of children. Be on the right side of history, never again means never again!
Who said that his supposed support of human rights is antisemitic? He says he disagrees with Charlotte Kates, but then says, “Stop the land theft, the genocide, the bombing of hospitals, the starvation of human beings, the murder of thousands of children.” Sure sounds like Kates, no?
Stefan St-Laurent says he was appalled by the events of October 7th. But his first Facebook post after the horrible massacre was just three days later and it asked people to sign a petition asking Justin Trudeau to “push for an end to bloodshed in Gaza.”
Image: Public Facebook Post by Saw Gallery Curator Stefan St. Laurent — Screen Capture by Fred Litwin
Stefan St-Laurent and Debaser also signed the October 2023 statement by Canadian artists in support of the “Palestinian struggle for freedom.”
“We understand that the events of [October 7] did not occur in a vacuum,” reads a letter authored by Artists for Palestine – Canada, reproduced in full in English and French below. “For two decades, Israel has held Palestinians in Gaza under siege, in an open-air prison, subjecting them to brutal massacres and weapons testing; depriving them of basic goods, food, clean water, medicine, and medical supplies.”
The Saw Gallery has been pals with Samidoun since April 2023 when they hosted a “Liberation Conference” in which Samidoun was a co-sponsor. When asked about this Jason St-Laurent told journalist Terry Glavin the same thing he told me – it’s not us. It was the Carleton University OPIRG group that booked the SAW venue.
Image: Web Site of the “Liberation Conference” Screen Capture by Fred Litwin
On November 4, 2023, the Saw Gallery held a sign-making event for local artists:
Ottawa Artists for a Free Palestine protest. Public Facebook Post by Saw Gallery Curator Sefan St-Laurent — Screen Capture by Fred Litwin
Stefan St-Laurent posted the above photograph on Facebook and said it was an “inspiring bunch of artists and allies.”
Some of their lovely signs read as follows:
· Dear Zionists: If you don’t like it, LEAVE! #LANDBACK
· Resistance until Liberation.
· No More Genocide.
· Life is more valuable than money.
· Stop Colonial Violence.
· From the River to the Sea.
On February 14, 2024, Stefan St-Laurent posted this graphic on his Facebook page:
Public Facebook Post by Saw Gallery Curator Sefan St-Laurent — Screen Capture by Fred Litwin
Talk about a blood libel.
But wait, there’s more. Here is another Facebook post by Stefan St-Laurent:
Public Facebook Post by Saw Gallery Curator Sefan St-Laurent — Screen Capture by Fred Litwin
And there is more coming from the Saw Gallery. From April 18th to May 18th, they will be presenting an art installation called Driving in Palestine by Rehab Nazzal.
Public Facebook Post by Saw Gallery Curator Sefan St-Laurent — Screen Capture by Fred Litwin
Back in 2014, Rehab Nazzal presented a multimedia art exhibit entitled Target at the Karsh-Masson Gallery at City Hall. Part of the piece glorified the founders of Hamas, and the perpetrators of the Munich Massacre of 1972. Michael Petrou wrote about the exhibit for Macleans Magazine:
A film that makes up part of a multimedia art exhibit at Ottawa’s City Hall showcases portraits of what the official publicity material describes as “assassinated Palestinian figures… lost artists, writers and leaders,” but several of the individuals were members of armed Palestinian groups implicated in deadly atrocities against civilians.
Israel’s embassy in Canada released a statement that says the exhibit “reflects a culture of hate and incitement that contradicts the values of Canada as a guardian of peace and champion against terror.” Israeli Ambassador to Canada Rafael Barak met yesterday with Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson to discuss the exhibit.
I have little hope that Driving in Palestine will be any better. Here is an excerpt from a description of the exhibition:
Driving in Palestine emerges as a catalytic agent for transformative political impetus, lending both agency and legitimacy to the Palestinian cause, which frequently falls victim to media distortion or suppression. This can be attributed to the unremitting pressure of the Zionist lobby in Canada, which effectively suppresses any authentic or critical portrayals of the Israeli military occupation.
I never knew the “Zionist lobby” was so effective. No wonder Canadians don’t hear any voices critical of Israel.
I wonder if the funders of the Saw Gallery are aware of its activities. It’s time they found out. Stay tuned.
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Powerful post, Fred. Well done.