From the Whitney Museum of American Art to the American Museum of Natural History, cultural institutions across New York City were the target of pro-ceasefire rallies and protests by pro-Palestine protestors over the holiday weekend.
Protests and demonstrations have grown in frequency and intensity since the October 7 attack on Israel by the militant organization Hamas, and subsequent military bombardment and invasion of Gaza, as the political schism between artists, patrons, and museum workers has continued to widen.
On Wednesday, November 22, the main entrance of the Whitney was splashed with fake blood as protestors shouted, among other slogans, “Ken Griffin is a terrorist,” referring to former Whitney board member and Citadel CEO who recently condemned pro-Palestine student groups at his alma mater, Harvard University.
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Per Forbes, Griffin has donated $450 million to Harvard within the last decade, including a $300 million gift to its Faculty of Arts and Sciences earlier this year.
Griffin provided the following statement to ARTnews: “Free speech is a sacrosanct constitutional protection afforded to all Americans and defacing the Whitney with red paint is not the lawful exercise of free speech, it is vandalism. Ken opposed the anti-Israel protests that occurred inside the museum a few years ago because our nation’s cultural institutions must be welcoming to all communities. No child should ever feel threatened because of their race or religion when walking into an American art museum.”
The demonstration at the Whitney coincided with a march for Gaza in Manhattan, during which protestors traveled along the west side of Manhattan, but were barred by police from entering The High Line, the suspended public park that passes by the museum. A video posted to social media by Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a Palestinian-led community organization, shows the museum’s steps and revolving front door doused in red paint. According to a report in Hyperallergic last week, no arrests were made.
The Whitney is no stranger to activist campaigns. In November 2018, Hyperallergic detailed links between billionaire hedge-funder Warren Kanders, then a Whitney board member, and defense contractor Safariland, LLC. Days before the report, it was revealed that tear-gas canisters bearing Safariland logos were launched by migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. The tear gas was also used against protestors against police violence by police in Baltimore, Ferguson, and elsewhere. The revelation ignited an eight-month activist campaign to remove Kanders, who owned Safariland, from the Whitney board.
On November 23, Thanksgiving Day for Americans, a rally that began at the New York Public Library in Manhattan resulted in as much as $75,000 in graffiti damage to the historic structure, per Gothamist. Pro-Palestine activists reportedly sprayed Free Palestine and smeared red handprints on the marble fountain and part of the facade engraved with the name of Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of the investment management firm Blackstone and a former Trump advisor. Schwarzman donated $100 million to the library in 2008 for renovations and pledged $7 million in aid to Israel in October.
Following the protest, WOL wrote on Instagram, “We started at Madison square park and throughout the city disrupting shopping, transportation, and ultimately the celebration and normalization of the genocide of the indigenous people of turtle island and the indigenous people of Palestine, both carried out by settler colonies the United States and Israel.”
New York Public Library officials, for their part, said in a statement that they have not launched a fundraising campaign to pay for the graffiti cleanup: “This comes at a time when the city’s libraries are facing steep budget cuts that have left us unable to maintain our current levels of service, and this vandalism will be costly to repair.”
“We do not anticipate any unplanned closures due to this, and remain committed to providing the resources we know so many people rely on,” the library spokesperson added.
Then, on Saturday, November 25, hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered at Columbus Circle and marched north until they reached the American Museum of Natural History.
In a video posted to Instagram by WOL, protestors chanted outside the museum “Israel bombs, U.S.A. pays. How many kids did you kill today?” and carried Palestinian flags and signs that read, “Cease Genocide” and “Free Gaza.” Protesters attempted to enter the museum, but were blocked by police.
The nonviolent rally took place on the second day of a pause of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to allow the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and the delivery of fuel, food, and other humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
Since the October 7 attack on Israel that left 1,200 dead and some 240 people taken hostage into Gaza, at least 14,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s assault, per statistics provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health. According to the World Health Organization, women and children comprise nearly 70 percent of deaths in Gaza.
Nerdeen Kiswani, a representative of WOL and an organizer of Saturday’s protest, told West Side Rag, a news outlet dedicated to the neighborhood where the American Natural History Museum is located, that WOL does not consider this a legitimate humanitarian pause. Kiswani cited reports that Palestinians attempting to return to northern Gaza during the pause have been barred from entry by threat of gunfire from Israeli troops.
“So, despite this so-called pause, our protests won’t cease,” she said. “We will persist as we have in the past weeks.”
Update 11/28/23: A previous version of this article said Griffin had threatened to cut philanthropic ties with the university over a letter published by student activists that was critical of Israel; Griffin said he would not hire any head of such student organizations. The article has also been updated with a statement from Griffin.