A local council in England apologized after promoting an art exhibition that sparked backlash over imagery widely criticized as antisemitic, as a Jewish visitor said she was verbally abused and forced to leave during a confrontation at the gallery.
Thanet District Council in Kent removed the exhibition from its tourism website after complaints, saying it “sincerely apologizes for any offense caused” and that the event should not have been promoted.
The exhibition, titled “Drawings Against Genocide,” was held in the seaside town of Margate and featured works related to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Critics said the artwork included imagery echoing antisemitic tropes, including depictions of figures marked with Stars of David and scenes described as invoking Nazi imagery.
Writer Zoe Strimpel, who visited the exhibition, described a confrontation with the artist that she said left her shaken.
“My cheeks are red. I am shaking,” she wrote on social media, adding she was “shocked and threatened” by what she described as “Nazi imagery.”
Strimpel said the artist responded aggressively when she raised concerns.
“He was instantly aggressive,” she wrote. “The artist started yelling at me that I didn’t mean anything I was saying.”
She said the situation escalated as others in the gallery reacted.
“The crowd began booing and closing in around me,” she wrote, adding that she was effectively pushed out of the venue.
Some attendees were seen wearing shirts reading “globalize the intifada,” a slogan often interpreted as a call for violence against Jews.
Alex Hearn of Labour Against Antisemitism criticized the exhibition, saying it depicted “Jews as blood-soaked, baby-eating demons” and “revels in being racist.”
Additional criticism circulated on social media, including claims that slogans such as “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea” were expressed at or around the exhibition, though those claims could not be independently verified.
The artist, Matthew Collings, has rejected accusations of antisemitism, saying his work is intended as criticism of Zionism.
Kent Police said officers received a report about allegedly offensive artwork at the gallery on March 21 but, after reviewing the case, determined no criminal offenses had been committed.