Speakers appear to express antisemitic views and support for proscribed group at opening night of art exhibit in London Matthew Collings recently hosted a panel at hARTslane Gallery on the opening night of his week-long “Drawings Against Genocide” exhibit. During the panel, Mr Collings said: “Like the Nazis on the Jews and the State of Israel on the Palestinians, it’s so horrible”. This is a clear breach of the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism. One of the speakers, vascular surgeon Dr Ranjeet Brar, has been suspended by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust following a speech in which he called to “wipe Israel off the map”, and is taking the NHS to court over its adoption of the Definition. He invited the room to fund “a judicial review of the IHRA [Definition]”. Dr Brar also equated Zionism and fascism, stating in self-evident ignorance of history: “the Israeli Navy was trained by Mussolini’s Navy. Did you know that? … It’s an imperialist institution, which is not only fascist in its behaviour, but in ideology”. He associated the Star of David, a centuries-old symbol of the Jewish religion, with genocide: “It’s been adopted by the state of Israel committing a genocide”. He denied Israel’s right to exist, saying: “I was suspended from work for speaking and saying ‘Israel’ as a genocidal settler-colonial entity doesn’t have a right to exist.” A health worker introduced as Tabi Khan pushed the classic trope that Jews have undue power and control, describing “The Zionist lobby” as “a global collective of organisations and individuals that work in a concerted effort in every sector of society – finance, media, and politics – to influence government policy and public opinion in support of the giant genocidal entity, Israel”. Additionally, several speakers expressed support for proscribed terrorist organisation Palestine Action. A prison recording from “Dan”, described as one of the “Bryce Norton six”, was screened, where he described himself as “a political prisoner for Palestine”. Those charged over the alleged RAF Brize Norton break-in in which two military aircraft were sprayed with red paint are on remand and awaiting trial listed for January 2027. Given Mr Collings’ history of recycling grotesque antisemitic tropes in his artwork, it is entirely unsurprising that a panel discussion on his work would play host to such rhetoric. At a time when Jewish communities in London are facing unprecedented levels of violence, it is deeply concerning that he was given a platform to showcase his work and seemingly disseminate hateful ideology in a building owned by Lewisham Council. We wrote to Lewisham Council ahead of the exhibit, and urge it to ensure it upholds its responsibility to take its own commitments to combating antisemitism seriously.

At this weekend’s Palestine hate march, this person was spotted wearing a jacket embellished with a red downwards-facing triangle. In recent years, the inverted red triangle and its emoji variant have been used by some anti-Israel activists to signal support for proscribed terrorist organisations such as Hamas, inspired by the appearance of the symbol in Hamas propaganda videos to indicate targets for attack. We just commemorated the third anniversary of Hamas’s terror attack on Israel, in which some 1,200 Israelis were murdered and 251 taken hostage. What do the authorities think people mean when they display this sign, if not endorsement of violence? The coward wouldn’t show their face.

This is the sort of rhetoric one would expect to see in a history textbook, recounting a darker time in human history. But actually it’s happening right now, on our streets. Instead of doing something about it, the authorities just shrug, and then have the audacity to talk about the need to fight antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head. It’s rearing its ugly head right in front of you.