Freedom for Humanity

Freedom for Humanity mural by Mear One. This mural was the subject of numerous complaints and was widely condemned as antisemitic before it was taken down by Tower Hamlets council.

Freedom for Humanity is a mural by the American artist Mear One, painted on a wall in Hanbury Street, London in 2012. It attracted controversy in the media at the time when commentators and local residents likened it to antisemitic propaganda in Nazi Germany, and was later removed by Tower Hamlets London Borough Council.[1][2]

The mural depicted a group of elderly bankers or businessmen sitting around a board game that resembled Monopoly and was supported by crouching naked human figures with dark complexions.[3] Above the group was an Eye of Providence pyramid symbol, and to the side stood a protesting figure bearing a placard with the slogan "The New World Order is the enemy of humanity".[4]

Lutfur Rahman, then Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said "the images of the bankers perpetuate antisemitic propaganda about conspiratorial Jewish domination of financial and political institutions"[2] and ordered it to be removed.[1] Before its removal, the mural was painted over in white paint;[4] the artist also said in an interview with fellow conspiracy theorist David Icke that the BBC has broadcast his mural being defaced by members of a "now defunct Jewish paramilitary organisation".[5]

Mear One has stated that the figures represented an "elite banker cartel" consisting of the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, and the Morgans, and that the pyramid symbolised Freemasonry.[6] Mear One denied denied that the mural was antisemitic; he was quoted as saying that the mural was about "class and privilege", pointed out that the figures depicted included both "Jewish and white Anglos",[3][7] and told Icke that the painting "never said anything about these characters representing anything more than greedy old European and American men in power".[5] He was also quoted in The Jewish Chronicle as saying, "Some of the older white Jewish folk in the local community had an issue with me portraying their beloved #Rothschild or #Warburg etc as the demons they are" (in reference to the Warburg and Rothschild banking families).[8]

In March 2018, the issue of the mural resurfaced as the British politician Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the British Labour Party, in a Facebook post in 2012 had asked Mear One why the mural was to be destroyed, saying that Mear One was "in good company. Rockerfeller(sic) destroyed Diego Viera's mural because it includes a picture of Lenin",[9] referring to Nelson Rockefeller's destruction of Diego Rivera's Man at the Crossroads fresco in 1934.[2] In response to allegations of sympathising with antisemitism (see: Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party), Corbyn retracted his expression of support and stated, "I sincerely regret that I did not look more closely at the image I was commenting on, the contents of which are deeply disturbing and anti-Semitic."[10]

According Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Educational Trust the mural was "indefensible" as it "was blatantly anti-Semitic, using images commonly found in anti-Semitic propaganda – it is impossible not to notice".[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Kalen Ockerman mural to be removed from Brick Lane". BBC News. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Dysch, Marcus (6 November 2015). "Did Jeremy Corbyn back artist whose mural was condemned as antisemitic?". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 "London council set to remove 'anti-Semitic' mural showing Jewish bankers". Times of Israel. 6 October 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  4. 1 2 Pfeffer, Anshel (14 October 2012). "Mural in London's One-time Jewish Heart Sparks Debate on anti-Semitism". Haaretz. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  5. 1 2 Brown, David (28 March 2018). "Artist Mear One admits he was warned over antisemitic mural". The Times. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Whitehouse, Geoff (8 October 2012). "Mear One's Brick Lane Street Art: Class and Societal Inequality Not Racial Hatred". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn's anti-Semitism row: the key facts you need to know". The i newspaper. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  8. ↑ Pollard, Stephen (24 March 2018). "There is only one word for Jeremy Corbyn". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  9. ↑ Merrick, Rob (23 March 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn forced to backtrack over apparent support for antisemitic mural". The Independent. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "Corbyn 'regret' over anti-Semitic mural row". BBC News. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  11. ↑ Peyer, Robin de (24 March 2018). "Labour anti-Semitism: Jeremy Corbyn under fire for Facebook post as row intensifies". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
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